"Batman v Superman" Hauls in $82 Million Friday

[CBR News]

Harsh reviews have not slowed "Batman v Superman" in the early returns at the box office.


Full article here.

[CliffHanger2]

Well looks like it's gonna pass that 160 expectation.

[EmrysM]

I'm not sure calling it a success with fans is accurate, so much as people were going to go see this regardless of what reviews said beforehand. It is a very big movie after all.

[nightw1ng]

I don't think anyone expected a disappointing opening box office weekend, given the amount of hype and expectation. The negative critical response can only curtail the curiosity and novelty factor of BvS so much. However, it could be an indication of how well it will be in the 2nd week and beyond, as negative reviewed films tend to have less repeat viewers and a larger week-to-week box office drop. We'll see next week if BvS can defy that trend.

[Charlie Rock]

I'm not sure calling it a success with fans is accurate, so much as people were going to go see this regardless of what reviews said beforehand. It is a very big movie after all.

Which is why DC could make mediocre movies every year and still make plenty of money. Movie audience's have been trained for years to accept whatever bland mush Big Hollywood pushes. I can't count how many people literally say "It looks like it's going to suck but I'm going anyway because I'm such a huge [insert character name] fan." Which is great for the characters themselves. Not so great for the fans though, imo.

[Iluvitloud1976]

I saw it this morning & thought it was awesome. The 151 running time just flew by. This isn't a Marvel Studios flick & I think that's where the negativity comes in. Thankfully BvS doesn't ride the coat tales of a marvel flick & instead follows its own tone & revisits some elements from Watchmen, & is an excellent sequel to MOS. Haters are gonna hate.

[Phil Clark]

I saw it this morning & thought it was awesome. The 151 running time just flew by. This isn't a Marvel Studios flick & I think that's where the negativity comes in. Thankfully BvS doesn't ride the coat tales of a marvel flick & instead follows its own tone & revisits some elements from Watchmen, & is an excellent sequel to MOS. Haters are gonna hate.

I think the negativity comes in not because it isn't a marvel studios flick but because the information being released seems to show that this film doesn't show respect for the comics that spawned the characters, whereas the Marvel films have been very respectful with a few notable exceptions (Mandarin being the biggest one).

[Jaylarue]

I have the exact same sentiments and have said the exact same thing. This movie was never meant to be a light-hearted romp, and if thats what it turned out to be, then everyone would be hating on it saying it was too campy, too corny, etc. It made me think, and thats more than I can say about any Marvel movie that came out in the past few years. And dont get me wrong, I love those movies too. My friend saw it with me and he aint no comic book fan like me, and he loved it. He actually said he would go see it again.

I saw it this morning & thought it was awesome. The 151 running time just flew by. This isn't a Marvel Studios flick & I think that's where the negativity comes in. Thankfully BvS doesn't ride the coat tales of a marvel flick & instead follows its own tone & revisits some elements from Watchmen, & is an excellent sequel to MOS. Haters are gonna hate.

[regnak]

Liked the movie but do see the problems. Ideally this would edge out IM3(because didn't like that at all) but the pounding it has taken review wise would cause the WB to get a better director.

[gbshabo]

Even if this movie has a decay rate of say-Transformers, it will hit the Billion mark. If it follows Man of Steel week to week, I calculated the movie making close to 1.1 Billion. Good news all in all.

[Jaylarue]

Absolutely. One devisive movie should not destroy the industry. It seems to me that people wanted this movie to fail no matter what it was about.

Even if this movie has a decay rate of say-Transformers, it will hit the Billion mark. If it follows Man of Steel week to week, I calculated the movie making close to 1.1 Billion. Good news all in all.

[Phil Clark]

The problem is, if it does make a billion, then we may see more of this kind of dreck from Snyder directing more DC movies. And that is the last thing I want to see, because I want to see good movies, not just movies people see because they are the first time three characters got together on film.

One weekend isn't going to make this movie a success though, it has to have legs. 180 million opening followed by drops of 50 percent each subsequent weekend would not be good. that would mean it would reach 335 million after four weeks. Not good.

[Calighoula]

I think the negativity comes in not because it isn't a marvel studios flick but because the information being released seems to show that this film doesn't show respect for the comics that spawned the characters, whereas the Marvel films have been very respectful with a few notable exceptions (Mandarin being the biggest one).

Phil, why the crusade? Anything positive where this film is concerned, you come out with guns blazing. If you think Marvel has been "very" respectful, why is Hank Pym not Ant-Man? Why does Marvel neuter their villains? Why are they not interested in pushing a female character?

[shamus]

Absolutely. One decisive movie should not destroy the industry. It seems to me that people wanted this movie to fail no matter what it was about.

I think one decision could make a huge difference to the future trajectory of the DC Movie Universe and that is to replace Zack Snyder at the helm with someone who knows about story-telling and character. From David Blaustein at ABC News

"Zack Snyder, to me, is one of the world’s most frustrating directors. He always brings an eye-popping aesthetic to his films, then attempts to force his story to fit that aesthetic, rather than the other way around, which is to let the story drive things. Because of this, what tends to happen in Snyder’s movies is the characters become one-dimensional. They feel more like props than human beings -- or in this case, humanoid aliens. Sure, there are words and feelings but Snyder’s style renders them meaningless. I’m sure, one day, he’ll find a way to marry the two but until he does, his movies will continue to make you feel nothing."

Exactly, Watchmen, Man of Steel Sucker Punch all suffered from this approach. 300 worked because it was never about anything other than US vs Them in battle scenes but beyond the visuals he offers nothing to connect too.

[lancerman]

I think the negativity comes in not because it isn't a marvel studios flick but because the information being released seems to show that this film doesn't show respect for the comics that spawned the characters, whereas the Marvel films have been very respectful with a few notable exceptions (Mandarin being the biggest one).

It's actually the opposite. Nobody could watch this film and have knowledge of the comics and not be able to pick out literally every comic every scene in this film was inspired by.

Marvel is a lot more willing to let go of the comics and even reinvent if it works. Iron Man being the big one, because I can tell you that RDJ's Iron Man and the comics Iron Man never had the same temperament.