Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, released in 2016 to a wave of scathing reviews, got off to a hot start, earning $166 million in its first weekend of release. But the team-up of DC Comics’ two most famous creations sunk from there: it plunged 69 percent in its second weekend, and another 54 percent in weekend three. Meanwhile, Wonder Woman got off to a slower start (“only” $103 million in weekend one), but it’s already surpassed Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (and Suicide Squad and Man of Steel) to become, domestically speaking, the highest-grossing movie in the DC Extended Universe.
And it took less than four weeks. (For comparison’s sake, BvS took 12.)
We can now safely surmise that Wonder Woman has exceeded both Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad at the domestic (North American) box office as of Thursday, making it the biggest hit Warner Bros. has produced from its DC stable, according to estimates provided by ComScore. (Via)
Wonder Woman still has a ways to go before catching Batman v. Superman in the international box office ($663 million to $873 million), and it’s technically third among all DC movies, behind The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises. But Patty Jenkins’ inspiring superhero film starring Gal Gadot and Chris Pine has exceeded even the most optimistic box office projections here in the United States. It’s one of the 50 highest-grossing movies and the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman of all-time, and, unsurprisingly, the highest-grossing World War I movie ever (sorry, War Horse). Wonder Woman is expected to end its international box office run with around $800 million.
It just goes to show how much positive word-of-mouth (i.e. being a superhero movie people actually enjoy watching) matters. It’s something Marvel figured out years ago, and DC is just learning.
(Via Mashable)
