Batman V Superman Sets Unwanted Box Office Record
‘Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice’ may have netted the fourth biggest opening weekend of all time, but according to business site Forbes, it’s broken a record that may be rather less welcome.
It’s recorded the worst audience drop-off over a weekend for any superhero movie in 'modern box office history’.
Attendance has plummeted for the critically-hammered movie, which sets Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel against Ben Affleck’s Caped Crusader.
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It dropped an eye-popping 55% between Friday and Sunday, a figure which even beats the 48% drop in numbers set by the much-despised 'Fantastic Four’ last summer.
Numbers also dropped from 38% between Friday and Saturday, the second biggest drop after 'The Dark Knight Rises’ recorded its 40% dip in 2012.
Though it’s still early to predict what may happen in the coming weeks, the movie has some significant milestones to hit before profitability.
It cost a substantial $250 million (£173 million) to make, $50 million more than 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens’.
And while the movie currently dominates the worldwide box office charts, with a gross so far of $468 million (£324 million), the marketing, promotion and advertising spend of the movie will have been at least double its production costs.
However, it’s thought that the movie will likely end up turning a profit, despite its 'critical kryptonite’ reviews situation, though one source told Deadline that the movie 'will not make a profit in the way that 'Zootopia’ (global box office £484m, cost £104m) or 'Deadpool’ (global box office £517m, cost £40m) have’.
A source close to the 'Transformers’ franchise told Forbes: “These tent-pole action pictures don’t really make as much money as you’d think. The difference between the revenues and the expenses can be pretty slim.”
That said, despite the drop off in attendance, 'Dawn of Justice’ could also benefit from there being little in its way in terms of large scale releases to take away its audience in the coming weeks.
Image credits: Warner Bros.
