It’s Unbelievable That This DC Movie Is Still The Franchise’s Biggest Box Office Opener

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If all goes right, this feature would become only the second DC adaptation of the 2020s (following The Batman) to reach $100+ million over its domestic opening weekend. That would also make Superman only the eighth DC Comics movie to ever reach $100+ million in its North American bow. Among those eight films is the biggest DC domestic opener ever, a record belonging to a mighty unexpected 2010s blockbuster.

How Did Batman v Superman Score This Box Office Achievement?

On March 25, 2016, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice opened in theaters everywhere. The second DC Extended Universe title ever, and arriving three years after Man of Steel, Dawn of Justice arrived in multiplexes after a year-long marketing campaign touting the project as a mammoth deal. Not only would this project debut Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, it also teed up a solo Justice League title and featured Wonder Woman in her live-action film debut. That was enough to get audiences to show up in droves for this Zack Snyder directorial effort.

Over its first three days of release, Dawn of Justice opened to $166 million, the biggest March bow in history at that point (Beauty and the Beast would overtake that record a year later). It also dethroned the $160.88 million debut of The Dark Knight Rises from four years earlier as the biggest opening ever for a DC Comics adaptation. As a cherry on top, this bow was (and still is, as of this writing) the second-biggest North American debut ever for a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Only Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part Two had a better domestic debut in the history of Warner Bros. titles.

Dawn of Justice’s opening weekend accomplishment would probably be better known if it weren’t for the film’s abysmal holds in the weekends following its release. Poor audience word-of-mouth led to the title tumbling 69% in its second frame, an unheard-of second weekend drop for a massive superhero film in those pre-Quantumania/The Flash/The Marvels days. At the time, Dawn of Justice had one of the worst second weekend declines ever for a title opening to over $100+ million, which forever put a damper on its debut weekend’s accomplishments.

How Does Dawn of Justice’s Box Office Compare to Other DC Titles?

With $330.36 million domestically, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice just missed doubling its gargantuan opening weekend in its North American box office run. That means six DC Comics adaptations have surpassed Dawn of Justice, which makes it even easier to forget that this 2016 film has a DC Comics box office record under its belt. Among those DC Comics features that had larger North American totals than Dawn of Justice were fellow DC Extended Universe title Aquaman and the infinitely cheaper R-rated title Joker.

Christopher Nolan’s two Dark Knight sequels have held onto the title of the biggest DC Comics movies ever domestically for ages now, and, unless Superman breaks out like Barbie or Minecraft, it’s doubtful their supremacy will be challenged anytime soon. Those Christian Bale star vehicles left Dawn of Justice in the dust in both overall domestic grosses and audience reception. However, this Zack Snyder feature can still hold its high in securing an opening weekend that not even 2008’s The Dark Knight could reach.

Dawn of Justice having currently the 20th biggest domestic opening weekend in history (and the seventh biggest ever at the time of its release) also speaks to how tremendously popular these DC Comics characters are. Roughly 40 years after Christopher Reeve’s first Superman movie and 27 years after Michael Keaton’s inaugural Batman title, these crime-fighters were still drawing in hordes of audiences to the big screen. Even considering that reality, given its divisive reputation and its lifetime domestic haul falling behind several other DC movies, it’s understandably easy to forget that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice still holds the biggest opening weekend ever for a DC movie.

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is now streaming on Max.