BATMAN V. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE was once seen as an unstoppable juggernaut having the first on screen appearance of both Batman and Superman together, and then throw in the big screen debut of Wonder Woman. This movie was seen as easily making at least $1 billion in the worldwide box office.
Unfortunately, BATMAN V. SUPERMAN has fallen off its record breaking opening weekend haul fast. In its second weekend it fell off nearly 70-percent which is nearly 10-percent higher than blockbuster movies should drop in its second weekend.
Bloomberg is now reporting that BATMAN V. SUPERMAN is estimated to perhaps not even make more profit during its theatrical release than its predecessor, MAN OF STEEL. A movie adding Batman and Wonder Woman not making more profit than a film with just Superman is somewhat a cause for concern.
Bloomberg reports:
“'Batman v Superman,' one of the most expensive films ever made, is on pace to produce a $278 million profit for Warner Bros. once home video, TV and merchandise proceeds are tallied, according to SNL Kagan analyst Wade Holden. That’s less than the estimated $300 million the studio earned from 'Man Of Steel.' It’s also evidence that Warner Bros. has more work to do to make its DC Comics division the unbreakable superhero movie business it needs.
“'I’m sure that it’s a bit of a disappointment,' Holden said. 'They were probably hoping for box-office numbers similar to ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron,’ since ‘Batman v Superman’ had DC’s three most well-known comic book heroes together in the same movie' -- Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman."
This report also states how Warner Bros. is happy with the performance of BATMAN V. SUPERMAN regardless of its drop-off and that is evidenced by their scheduling of two more untitled DC Films this past week. However, analysts seem to be in agreement that the chance for BATMAN V. SUPERMAN to break into the $1 billion club is not likely.
“'[Warner Bros. has] to be pretty satisfied; they probably aren’t elated,' said Matthew Harrigan, an analyst at Wunderlich Securities who recommends Time Warner stock. He forecasts the movie will finish its worldwide theatrical run with sales of less than $1 billion."
A lot of this sounds like doom and gloom for Warner Bros. and DC Films but it is quite the opposite and here's where things look up for Warner Bros. and DC Films.
Take a look at Marvel Studios' first few movies they released: IRON MAN ($585M worldwide on a $140M budget), THE INCREDIBLE HULK ($263M on a $150M budget), THOR ($449M on a $150M budget) and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER ($370M on a $140M budget) weren't huge billion dollar hits and the studio was making really small profits than they are currently. It took a solid plan, adjustments to maximize profits and a few years of patience for Marvel Studios to get to where they are now.
Then take a look at MAN OF STEEL which had a $225M budget and brought in $668M worldwide. And it looks like BATMAN V. SUPERMAN will bring in somewhere in the $850-$900M range when its theatrical run ends and that's on a $250M budget.
Warner Bros. is also on track to building themselves a solid performing DC Extended Universe if you consider Marvel Studios' low profit margins on most of their Phase 1 film outside of IRON MAN, IRON MAN 2 ($623M on a $200M budget) and THE AVENGERS ($1.5B on a $220M budget).
You have to crawl before you can walk, and then you can run.
Marvel Studios has been building their movie universe since 2008 and they are running at full speed. Warner Bros. and DC Films are transitioning from crawling to ready to start walking. And once JUSTICE LEAGUE releases, the studio should be running as long as they are learning lessons now, can adapt and improve the DCEU movies along the way to be the best they can be.
Is it sad BATMAN V. SUPERMAN didn't perform better? Of course. But it's not the end of the world as the building blocks are in place just as Marvel Studios had to build up themselves with their Phase 1 movies.
[Please note that these numbers do not reflect marketing costs which add to every movie budget, and all numbers are sourced from BoxOfficeMojo.com.]
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