While we ponder over this deleted scene from the movie, the final box office figures have come in for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and they are slightly below the estimates. Warner Bros. Pictures reports that the Zack Snyder-directed film earned $166.1 million this weekend from 4,242 domestic theaters, which is a bit below the estimated $170.1 million. It’s still easily the best pre-summer opening, surpassing The Hunger Games‘ $152.5 million from March 2012.
While it’s no longer the largest domestic opening for Warner Bros. ever (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2‘s $169.2 million from 2011 will hold onto that record), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is the widest release pre-May, the largest Easter opening (previous record was Furious 7‘s $147.2 million from 2015), the largest opening for a DC film (previous record was The Dark Knight Rises‘ $160.9 million from 2012), and the biggest March opening ever (previous record was The Hunger Games‘ $152.5 million).
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice marks the seventh-highest domestic opening ever, trailing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2‘s $169.2 million in sixth place.
Dominating the international market, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earned a spectacular $254 million over the weekend on an unprecedented 40,000+ screens in 66 markets. Combined with the $166.1 million from North American theaters, the worldwide total is now already up to $420.1 million!
Internationally, Batman v Superman marks the biggest superhero opening weekend of all time, the all-time biggest March opening, Warner Bros. Pictures‘ biggest opening of all-time in China, and Warner Bros.’ second-biggest international opening of all time (behind Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2).
In China alone, Batman v Superman grossed an estimated $57.3 million from approximately 16,000 screens. The film also opened big in the UK with an estimated $21.9 million from 1,701 screens, in Brazil with $12.2 million from 1,330 theaters, in Korea with $10.5 million from 1,696 screens, and in Australia with $10 million from 535 screens.
The film stars Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, with Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane returning from Man of Steel, joined by Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Holly Hunter as Senator Finch, as well as Scoot McNairy, Callan Mulvey and Tao Okamoto.
You can read our two reviews by clicking here and here. Photos from the various premieres can be viewed here, and you can also view all our previous coverage of the film here.
In Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Gotham City’s own formidable, forceful vigilante, fearing the actions of a god-like Super Hero left unchecked, takes on Metropolis’s most revered, modern-day savior, while the world wrestles with what sort of hero it really needs. And with Batman and Superman at war with one another, a new threat quickly arises, putting mankind in greater danger than it’s ever known before.
