Weekend Estimates: 'Batman v Superman' Blows Up March Opening Record, 'Zootopia' Settles for Second While 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' Plays Solidly

     History was made today, mainly because of the very impressive performance of DC's superhero tentpole 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice', which delivered one of the biggest opening weekends of all time. Also opening with respectable numbers was 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2', which managed to become solid counter-programming after a massive 14-year gap between installments.

     DC's $250-million superhero team-up film 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' opened with a massive $166 million, which ranks sixth all time, and a $39.1k per-theater average, which ranks seventh all time for wide opening weekends. This marks a successful follow-up to the 2013 hit 'Man of Steel' ($291m), grossing well over half of that film's total in just one weekend. The huge opening is also the biggest for a Batman film, a Superman film, a DC film, a March/spring film, and a film that opened on Easter. Among all superhero films, 'Dawn of Justice' debuted ahead of 'The Dark Knight Rises' ($160.9m), 'The Dark Knight' ($158.4m), and 'Spider-Man 3' ($151.1m) and below 'Iron Man 3' ($174.1m), 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' ($191.3m), and 'Marvel's The Avengers' ($207.4m). It barely missed 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' ($169.2m) for the title of the biggest WB opener of all time, but it did take down 'The Hunger Games' ($152.5m) and 'Furious 7' ($147.2m) for the biggest March/spring and Easter opening of all time. Despite being a critical dud and the lukewarm reception of 'Man of Steel', audiences were still excited to see Bats and Supes duke it out with Wonder Woman joining the line-up for the first time in cinema. However, even then audiences weren't exactly raving about it. So far, it overtook 'Deadpool' for the biggest 2016 opening, but that position will be in jeopardy once 'Captain America: Civil War' arrives in theaters on May 6.

     On Friday, 'Dawn of Justice' earned a humongous $81.6 million (including an impressive $27.7m from Thursday), declined a sizable 37.9% on Saturday to make $50.7 million, and fell 33.3% on Sunday to gross $33.8 million. The weekend-to-Friday ratio is a very concerning 2.03-to-1, which is worse than the 2.18-to-1 ratio of 'Furious 7' (which also opened on Easter) and a little below the 2.08-to-1 ratio of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (which opened in December before Christmas to record-breaking numbers). The disappointing ratio can be attributed to the very poor reviews and middling word-of-mouth. The RT score is currently sitting at a sad 29% while the Flixter score is at 72%, which is already below the 76% rating of 'Man of Steel' over nearly three years. Those scores are also noticeably behind 'Avengers 2', which had a 75% critics rating and an 84% Flixter score since opening last May. Unfortunately, those two scores are also WAY behind the ratings of each film in Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight Trilogy', where each film never got below 85% with critics and 85% with audiences. Overall, 'BvS' should prove to be much more front-loaded than any of those films. Still, a $166 million debut is nothing to cry over, and its much bigger total definitely isn't. Though long-term holding power is basically out of the question, $390 million should still be reachable. Overseas, it's doing even better, grossing a stunning $254 million in five days of play. It had successful openings in China ($57.3m), Mexico ($18.6m), Brazil ($12.2m), South Korea ($10.5m), Australia ($10m), Russia ($8.5m), France ($8.4m), Germany ($8.2m), Spain ($6.3m), Italy ($5.8m), and Japan ($4.4m). Worldwide, it has now amassed $420 million, which ranks fourth all-time behind 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' ($529m), 'Jurassic World' ($524.9m), and 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2' ($483.2m). $1 billion is definitely a guarantee, but because of the mixed word-of-mouth and unconvincing reviews it would be surprising if it made much more than $1.5 billion worldwide.
     As always, Disney's $150-million animated dramedy 'Zootopia' held up very well this weekend, dropping just 35.4% and making $24 million. 'Zootopia' crossed the $240 million mark this weekend, and has now totaled an impressive $241.4 million in just four weeks of play. Assuming it continues to hold up strongly (which it most likely will), stellar reviews and word-of-mouth should get it past $310 million total, which is a very good result for a film that opened with $75 million.
     Following the massive success of 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding', which was fueled by solid word-of-mouth and surprised everyone by making a HUGE $241.4 million all the way back in 2002, the sequel that came out 14 years later ultimately managed to attract most of that film's audience, grossing a solid $17.9 million for a $5.7k average. That's a fairly respectable result, and opened on the high end of expectations which typically ranged anywhere from $14m-$20m. Luckily, not everyone wanted to see the much-anticipated arrival of two of America's most iconic heroes and the ones who chose to sit out opted to go see this instead. While there's a 0% chance that it matches the impressive total of its predecessor or the remarkable legs it displayed, the $18-million romantic comedy should still hold up pretty well against discouraging reviews (24%). Word-of-mouth is mostly working in its favor ('A-', which is actually better than the 'B' the weekend's other new wide release got), so it has that going for it.

     'Wedding' opened with $7.3 million on Friday (including Thursday's $1m), decreased 12% on Saturday to make $6.4 million, and fell 36.5% on Sunday to make $4.1 million. The ratio here is 2.45-to-1, which is actually a pretty good outcome given that Easter releases tend to be really front-loaded on Easter weekend. It's impossible that it will snag the 80.5x multiplier the original managed, but anything 3.5x and above would be likely. That would mean that we should expect a total of $60 million or more, which would be pretty solid given its low budget and the amount of competition.

     With close numbers for the weekend, 'Miracles from Heaven' and 'The Divergent Series: Allegiant' $9.7 million and $9.4 million. 'Heaven' declined a light 35.4% from last weekend, and boosted its total to $34.3 million. Meanwhile, 'Allegiant' plummeted a troubling 67.5% from its opening, and has so far collected just $46.5 million. The former cost just $13 million to produce, while the latter was made for $110 million (subsequently leading to budget cuts for the next installment, 'Ascendant'). It's clear which one is the stronger performer, as 'Miracles' will try to make it past $65 million while 'Allegiant' will have to settle for around a disappointing $70 million, which puts an unprecedented amount of pressure on the next entry in the YA series.
     '10 Cloverfield Lane' held up decently against the tough competition, dropping 52.5% and grossing $5.9 million. The $15-million sci-fi thriller has so far made a solid $56 million in three weeks, and a total of over/under $70 million is very likely at this point.
     Two R-rated actioners occupied seventh and eight place. The one that came out on top was 'Deadpool', which held up surprisingly well against a different, more kid-friendly superhero mash-up opening this weekend. The $58-million superhero movie grossed $4.9 million, down a solid 38.9%. With a very strong $349.4 million, 'Deadpool' will have to relinquish its position as 2016's biggest hit to 'Batman v Superman', but come on. A total of around $365 million for a superhero film that was originally supposed to appeal mainly to fans is about as impressive as a $400 million finish for one of the most high-profile films in the century, right? Meanwhile, 'London Has Fallen' is operating on a much smaller scale, but is still putting up solid numbers on its own. The $60-million action movie fell a sizable 55.8% from last weekend, grossing $3 million. So far, 'London' has grossed $55.7 million, and $70 million should still be in reach.
     Roadside's Sally Field starrer 'Hello, My Name is Doris' expanded successfully this weekend, adding 357 theaters this weekend for a grand total of 485 locations. It grossed $1.7 million, up a strong 67.2% from last weekend. In three weeks, the R-rated comedy has now grossed $3.2 million. It should expand further in the coming weeks given that reviews and word-of-mouth is overwhelmingly positive.
     'Risen' held up very nicely, benefiting from the Easter weekend and grossing $935k, down just 18.3%. The $20-million faith-based drama has now earned a solid $36 million in six weeks, and $40 million could still be a lock.
     Closely following in twelfth place was the critically acclaimed drama 'Eye in the Sky', which also expanded solidly, grossing $932.4k for a 120.6% increase over last weekend's frame. 88 locations were added this weekend for a total of 123 theaters showing the film. So far, 'Eye' has made $1.7 million in three weeks and, like 'Doris', should expand in the following weeks.
     The $35-million war comedy 'Whiskey Tango Foxtrot' rounded out the Top 12, making $900.1k and falling a steep 67.9% (most likely due to its loss of 1,232 theaters this weekend). So far, 'Foxtrot' has brought in an underwhelming $21.3 million and should ultimately inch past $25 million total.
     The Top 12 this weekend brought in a historic $245.3 million, which was up 107.8% from last weekend and 72.4% from last year, when 'Home' and 'Get Hard' debuted strongly along with holdovers 'The Divergent Series: Insurgent' and 'Cinderella'.
     Next weekend, 'Batman v Superman' should repeat in first place as competition should do nothing to unseat it, although next weekend will test how well it will hold up in the face of polarizing reviews and word-of-mouth. Meanwhile, 'God's Not Dead 2' will attempt to reach the same audience that showed up to 2014's sleeper hit, which made over $60 million domestic after opening to just under $10 million. 'Meet the Blacks' opens nationwide as well, but given the fact that parodies haven't been doing so well recently (take 'Scary Movie V' and 'Fifty Shades of Black' for example), it should barely make a blip on the radar.