Batman v Superman shrugs off terrible reviews to debut with record $170million opening weekend in North America
- ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ has earned the sixth best weekend opening of all time in North America
- Fought skepticism against Ben Affleck's casting and barrage of bad reviews
- But allure of seeing two of the most iconic superheroes battle it out was enough to set a new record for the best pre-summer debut
- Has surpassed previous DC movies, including The Dark Knight Rises
- Critics slammed the film and audiences gave it a mediocre B CinemaScore
‘Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’ shrugged off its terrible reviews to debut with an estimated $170.1 million in North America - the sixth best weekend opening of all time.
The stakes were high for the Warner Bros. superhero showdown, which cost $250 million to make and nearly as much to market.
But the studio's bid to kickstart a DC Comics universe to rival Marvel's massively successful empire fought against skepticism over Ben Affleck's casting as Batman and a barrage of bad reviews earlier in the week.
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Batman v Superman, starring Ben Affleck (left) and Henry Cavill (right) has debuted with an estimated $170.1 million in North America - the sixth best weekend opening of all time
Audiences gave the film a mediocre B CinemaScore, which suggested many moviegoers agreed with critics.
But the allure of seeing two of the most iconic superheroes battle it out was enough to set a new record for the best pre-summer debut.
The film, directed by Zack Snyder and also starring Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg and Amy Adams, brought in $82 million as it premiered on Friday in 4,242 theaters nationwide, according to The Numbers.
It’s the fourth biggest opening for a comic book adaptation, behind three Marvel films - The Avengers, Age Of Ultron and Iron Man 3.
Pictured at the London premiere, from left to right are Deborah Snyder, director Zack Snyder, Amy Adams, Affleck, Gal Gadot, Cavill, Holly Hunter and Jesse Eisenberg
It’s far surpassed 2013 predecessor Man of Steel and topped the domestic opening weekend total for the final two instalments of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, which brought in $158.4 million and $160.9 million respectively.
Warner Bros will need to make at least $800 million from the film just to break even, Variety revealed earlier this month.
Reviews have almost universally blamed director Zack Snyder, who worked on Man Of Steel and Watchman, for the film's failure to deliver.
'This movie is a crime against comic book fans,' screams the headline for Vox.com's review.
UsWeekly described it as '151 minutes of doom and gloom'.
'This was supposed to be the most epic superhero movie ever made. Instead, we got a clichéd, manic villain and two well-intentioned heroes fighting for no reason at all,' wrote The Daily Beast.
Recently, a video of Affleck with a forlorn expression during an interview with Yahoo, which pointed out the film's poor reviews, swept the internet.
Set to Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound Of Silence, it used a clip of the actor looking heartbroken during the interview along with a collection of negative headlines blasting the movie.
But during the actual interview, Cavill said he thought the audience's opinion would ultimately matter more than the critics.
Batman v Superman (pictured) has been slammed by the critics but Cavill said the audience's opinion would ultimately matter more than that of the critics
- Box Office: 'Batman v. Superman' Nabs Huge $82M Friday, Heads for Record $172M U.S. Debut - Hollywood Reporter
- WB¿s ¿Batman v Superman¿ Faces High Expecations | Variety
- Batman v Superman review: this movie is a crime against comic book fans - Vox
- Batman v Superman Epic Is the 'Anti-Deadpool,' Gets Two Stars - Us Weekly
- ¿Batman v Superman¿ Review: Even Wonder Woman Can¿t Save This Unholy Mess - The Daily Beast
- Henry Cavill: Fan Response To Batman v Superman Is More Important Than The Reviews - Yahoo News
- Record Opening Weekend at the Domestic Box Office - The Numbers
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