'Justice League' Crashes at the Weekend Box Office
by EG
Justice League, the next big movie in Warner Bros' DC Extended Universe, wasn't expected to be an epic blockbuster in its box-office debut, but it was expected to sell at least as many tickets as the last two hit superhero movies, Thor: Ragnarok and Wonder Woman. Instead, Justice League turned in an extremely disappointing weekend and earned the distinction of having the least-lucrative opening of any movie in the DC franchise to date. Perhaps even worse, the movie has to contend with mostly negative reviews and lukewarm word of mouth, meaning that a long and profitable run is probably not in its future.
The world's most famous superheroes seemingly lost their powers over the weekend as Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment's big-budget Justice League opened to a sorely disappointing $96 million in North America, while a small feel-good movie named Wonder stole the thunder with $27.1 million after galvanizing elementary school kids across the country.
Justice League posted the lowest domestic opening of any title in the DC Extended Universe, which has yet to match the consistent success of rival Marvel Studios. The superhero mashup is faring better overseas, where it debuted to $185.5 million from 65 markets, including $51.7 million in China, for a global bow of $281.5 million. The movie is doing notable business in Latin America, including Brazil, where it scored the biggest weekend debut of all time ($14.2 million).
In North America, Justice League had been tracking to debut to at least $110 million. Even that wouldn't have been a rousing start for a marquee superhero title intended to rival Marvel Studios' The Avengers franchise by assembling together Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Aquaman and Cyborg. (In 2012, The Avengers debuted to a then-record $204.7 million domestically, followed by $191.3 million for Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015).
"Our path to box office success is different than what we thought. Given the extremely lucrative Thanksgiving week, we have a chance to hold audiences and ultimately come in at a good level," says Jeff Goldstein, president of domestic distribution for Warners.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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