Weekend Box Office: Batman v Superman Conquers Records

Despite negative reviews from professional critics, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had a very good opening weekend. The film's gross earnings were not only good enough to take the week's top spot by a very wide margin, they were also good enough to break a few records.

Batman v Superman got off to its hot start early, when it earned $27 million from preview showings on Thursday night. The film pulled in another $82 million on Friday, and estimates have its total take for the weekend coming in at around $170 million. That's ahead of pre-weekend predictions, and it would be the best March opening in history. It would also be the biggest opening for any Warner Bros. movie and the fourth biggest opening among superhero movies.

The week's other new release, My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, didn't earn nearly as much, but it had a relatively good weekend anyway. Its estimated total earnings of $18 million are above expectations, and the total is enough to give the romantic sequel a solid third-place finish.

Second place for the week will go to Zootopia, the animated hit that's held the top spot for the first three weekends of its release. This week it will slip far behind Batman v Superman, but it's still predicted to pull in an impressive $23 million.