Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (March 24th, 2016)

[jye4ever]

So did anyone plunk down the $28 to be constantly sprayed in the face with water during the rain scenes?

The Batman v Superman 4DX Experience is brutish, unapologetic capitalism sprayed directly in your face | The Verge

Tickets cancelled!

Superman was just jealous...now it all makes sense

Bulge envy, just use some kryptonian socks next time and smile.

 

[greygoose]

Superman was just jealous...now it all makes sense

Batman's crotch v Superman: Dawn of Morning Wood

 

[Victοr]

Superman was just jealous...now it all makes sense

Well, damn... Guess Midnighter will find lots to like about this Batman... Well, all the more reason for DC to wake up and make a movie about the most bad-*** mother****er in all of comic-dom. "The Night's Bringer of War" himself!

 

[Sweet Rabbit]

Wtf

 

[jye4ever]

WB hasn't had much luck with Superman ever SINCE 1983!!!

I'm reminded that the last time we had a happy Reeve Superman was Superman 4 and Routh sure smiled alot while he was stalking crappy boring Lois while the exciting climax involved watching crystals grow.

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

 

[karamazov80]

Didn't that crossover remain canon in the old Wildstrom Universe? Such stories are often than not disregarded, but I seem to remember that whoever died there, remained dead.

Correct. It was Warren Ellis writing out character he didn't like from Stormwatch, to set up the Authority. So, you get to the point where you've essentially got the Justice League Detroit, do an Aliens mashup, and then it leads in to. . .the JLI, mother****ers!

I just want better scripts. I believe Snyder is absolutely up to the task visually (even with his propensity towards 90s comic stylngs and fun character deaths). Just need tighter, smarter screenplays. Hopefully Terrio's solo work will do the trick.

This echoes my thoughts regarding Snyder. Take him out of the creative decision-making process. If you have him purely acting as director, you get 300, which was good. You give him full creative control, you have Sucker Punch, which was abysmal (though I'm pretty sure Khev is a big fan. . . ). Man of Steel and BVS are somewhere in-between.

Can he do great drama? Probably not. But if you put the right actors in the right roles, then you're most of the way there. And Snyder can do the action/visuals/fights/etc. really well. I think his visual strength lends itself to comic book movies. But for the larger storytelling narrative, there are many better choices. We've had enough evidence now to get a good impression of that IMO.

 

[jye4ever]

Yup, bring Donner back with a cgi Reeve/Brando.

 

[YoNoSe]

Yup, bring Donner back with a cgi Reeve/Brando.

Might need a cgi Donner soon. Dude's 86.

 

[jye4ever]

Then George Miller, he'll direct wherever there's sand until he's 116.

 

[Victοr]

Correct. It was Warren Ellis writing out character he didn't like from Stormwatch, to set up the Authority. So, you get to the point where you've essentially got the Justice League Detroit, do an Aliens mashup, and then it leads in to. . .the JLI, mother****ers!

Thanks for the confirmation! It's nice to see that a cross-over was for once kept canon. The only other instance I can remember is Spawn/Batman, where Spawn kept the scar from Batman's batarang for a while. Either way, I'd love an Authority movie (or even a Midnighter solo), but chances are slim. I'm re-reading the first vol now, and damn would that look cool in the big screen. Truth be told, that's one film I'd trust Snyder to pull off. Maybe an Ultimates film as well. Most hated Millar's version, but both vols amongst my favourites (the 3rd one doesn't exist, it was a bad dream Batman had of the future!). Sigh, I sure wish the MCU was more like the Ultimate-Verse...

 

[YoNoSe]

Correct. It was Warren Ellis writing out character he didn't like from Stormwatch, to set up the Authority. So, you get to the point where you've essentially got the Justice League Detroit, do an Aliens mashup, and then it leads in to. . .the JLI, mother****ers!


This echoes my thoughts regarding Snyder. Take him out of the creative decision-making process. If you have him purely acting as director, you get 300, which was good. You give him full creative control, you have Sucker Punch, which was abysmal (though I'm pretty sure Khev is a big fan. . . ). Man of Steel and BVS are somewhere in-between.

Can he do great drama? Probably not. But if you put the right actors in the right roles, then you're most of the way there. And Snyder can do the action/visuals/fights/etc. really well. I think his visual strength lends itself to comic book movies. But for the larger storytelling narrative, there are many better choices. We've had enough evidence now to get a good impression of that IMO.

Yup. I don't want to bag on the guy. He's talented. I'm glad he got to do Sucker Punch in the same way I'm glad Rob Zombie makes movies - there are actually people who like them and who else is going to do that sort of thing? Not to beat the horse but his comments about Batman '89 and "fun" ideas for characters do indicate, to me at least (gigantic IMO), that he doesn't care or know a ton about these characters or their audience. That doesn't mean he can't have an interpretation. But I would like someone with more of a grasp on the basics to tackle a high profile, big screen outing.

Not to say I won't keep watching whatever he dishes out. I'm sure I will. And I'll keep finding stuff to appreciate even if it takes some shoveling.

 

[YoNoSe]

Then George Miller, he'll direct wherever there's sand until he's 116.

As long as the Oscar noms keep coming.

 

[jye4ever]

Samurai scene in SP is almost worth the price of owning the stupid movie!

I love....err....like Watchmen and 300 alot!

Oh, and I like BvS as well!

 

[jye4ever]

Oh my oh my...WB has a winner in their hands...seems like the negative press is only helping WB, crazy stuff this article!

This weekend offers up a big test for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. The film was roundly dismissed by critics and yet it became the first film to gross over $150 million in its opening weekend with a RottenTomatoes score below 63%. Additionally, it became the only film to gross over $150 million with a CinemaScore below a "B+" and yet, online ticket seller Fandango.com reports it's seeing strong, repeat ticket purchases, 30% higher than a typical blockbuster. Does this tell us anything about what to expect from its second weekend?



As far as competition is concerned, Batman v Superman doesn't really have any. The widest new release hitting theaters is the faith-based sequel God's Not Dead 2. The faith-based sequel is releasing in over 2,300 theaters, and arrives on the heels of several films targeting the same demograhpic including Risen, The Young Messiah and Miracles from Heaven. Additionally, Freestyle will release Meet the Blacks into just over 1,000 theaters and last weekend's strong performers in Roadside's Hello, My Name is Doris and Bleecker Street's Eye in the Sky will be going much wider in this, their fourth weekend in release.



Starting at the top with Batman v Superman, you can crunch the numbers any way you'd like, but there is no exact answer for just how well, or how poorly, the superhero showdown will perform this weekend. There is definitely a range when looking at previous releases such as the higher end of the spectrum, which includes the 69-70% second weekend drop for a trio of Twilight films, which opened between $138-147 million. More closely to BvS's $166 million opening is the $169.1 million opening for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2, which dropped 72% in its second weekend in 2011.



You could also look at Batman v Superman's daily performance for a signal as to how it might perform this weekend. The biggest issue there is the fact the film wasn't released during the summer months, when kids are out of school and more likely to prop up the weekday performance. That said, perhaps the film's second weekend drop might not be as large as you'd otherwise expect when comparing to similar-performing summer titles.



Moving earlier into the year, $100+ million openers that opened in March and April include Alice in Wonderland (46% second weekend drop), Furious 7 (59.5% drop) and The Hunger Games(61.6% drop). It's important to note, however, all of those films, including the critically panned Alice in Wonderland, scored higher on the RottenTomatoes meter than Batman v Superman, but what's more important is how the audience feels about these respective films.



As already stated, Batman v Superman is the only live action film to open over $150 million and score below a "B+" CinemaScore and one of only two films to score lower than a "B+" and open over $100 million, the other being Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, a film that ironically scored a 78% on RottenTomatoes while being loathed by a large portion of the audience. To that point, while Batman v Superman may hold a 29% rating on RottenTomatoes, the site's users score it 71%, far better than Crystal Skull's 54%.



Another bar for comparison is to look at IMDb's user rating for Batman v Superman, which currently stands at 7.4 with over 186,000 votes. Comparing this to similar titles, one week after their release, Avengers: Age of Ultron was at 8.1 (currently rates 7.5), Captain America: The Winter Soldier was at 8.3 (currently at 7.8) and Furious 7 was at 8.1 (currently at 7.3). This suggests Batman v Superman may be somewhere around 6.7 or so a year from now, which would be half-a-point below Man of Steel's current IMDb user rating of 7.2, nearly three years after release. As for Man of Steel, users rated it 8.1 one week after release before going on to drop 64.6% in its second weekend.



Perhaps the most astonishing statistic when looking at IMDb's user ratings is the sheer number of votes BvS has received so far. With 186,047 as of publication, that's 100,000 more than Man of Steel had at the same point in its release cycle, 120,000 more than Winter Soldier, 50,000 more than Ultron and 114,000 more than Furious 7. Clearly, the film has gained fan attention, perhaps many are rating it simply in response to the critical lambasting, but will that propel it to second weekend success?



All that said, the picture still hasn't gotten definitively clearer. If you focus on all comparable openings ($130-175m), summer release or not, you could be looking at a drop ranging from 52.5% (The Dark Knight) to 72% (Deathly Hallows 2). Narrow your view to films opening in March and April and you arrive at an average drop of about 55%, with a high of 61.6% (The Hunger Games). For all live action films that opened between $150-175 million you arrive an average second weekend drop of 60%. While 46% is way too low and 72% seems far too high, a range of 58-68% seems a safe bet (and don't forget about the $27.7m in Thursday previews that inflated the film's opening) for a second weekend anywhere from $53-69.7 million.

 

[YoNoSe]

 

[The Clown Prince of Crime]

God's Not Dead 2. The faith-based sequel is releasing in over 2,300 theaters, and arrives on the heels of several films targeting the same demograhpic including Risen, The Young Messiah and Miracles from Heaven.

I had no idea WB was releasing more Superman movies this week

 

[spindrift]

Samurai scene in SP is almost worth the price of owning the stupid movie!

I love....err....like Watchmen and 300 alot!

Oh, and I like BvS as well!

I'm a Sucker Punch fan so get with it and start liking it- the WWI sequence was the best part so you are wrong

 

[jye4ever]

I had no idea WB was releasing more Superman movies this week

I'm a Sucker Punch fan so get with it and start liking it- the WWI sequence was the best part so you are wrong

I am not watching SP again.

But the trailers for it were great!

 

[SNIKT1950]

Sucker Punch was great. It was basically a live action HEAVY METAL comic.

If Snyder had the rights to HM & called it that instead of SP, the film would have had a much better critical reception.