Justice League’s Final Box Office is Much Lower Than Expected

Cinemas across North America are dropping Justice League, which means the film’s final gross will most likely land under $675 million globally. Following the release of Zack Snyder’s Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016 – a follow-up to the director’s 2013 film, Man of Steel – Warner Bros. Pictures continued to expand their unofficially titled DC Extended Universe with David Ayer’s Suicide Squad in August 2016 and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman in June 2017.

The goal was to eventually get to Snyder’s Justice League in November 2017, which brought the world’s finest heroes – Batman (Ben Affleck), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot), The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa), and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) – together for the first time ever on the big screen. The film, unfortunately, wasn’t what critics or audiences expected (or hoped for). Justice League was plagued by several production issues and setbacks, from Snyder’s tragic exit during post-production to extensive studio interference, which left the final cut muddled and, therefore, led to the superhero team-up movie’s critical and commercial failure. While the DCEU’s fifth installment wasn’t expected to cross Man of Steel‘s worldwide gross, it looks like it’s going to end its theatrical run much lower than anticipated.

According to Box Office Mojo, more than 1,600 movie theaters across North America dropped Justice League over the Christmas weekend, thus minimizing the film’s chances of surpassing Man of Steel‘s global gross. Justice League earned an estimated $1.055 million over the weekend (its sixth weekend), thereby bringing its domestic total to just over $222 million. So far, it has raked in $646.6 million at the worldwide box office since hitting theaters in mid-November. That number is much lower than the previously expected $675 million haul.

Comparatively, Justice League has earned less money at the domestic box office than Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman film. Plus, it’s on its way to becoming one of the biggest flops in cinema history by earning more than $600 million globally but will still be considered a commercial failure for the studio and the brand. To put things into perspective, Batman V Superman earned $260 million by its second weekend, and Wonder Woman made $275 million by its third. Furthermore, Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi earned $220 million in its first weekend. Overall, Justice League is the lowest-grossing DC Comics adaptation since Bryan Singer’s 2006 film, Superman Returns.

Justice League is undoubtedly a colossal failure for the studio. However, considering that every other DCEU movie has been commercially successful, despite being ridiculed by critics and dividing audiences, the burgeoning shared universe isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. James Wan’s Aquaman is still slated to hit theaters in December 2018, with David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! and Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 2 both releasing in 2019. But we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with Justice League 2.

KEY RELEASE DATES
Aquaman release date: Dec 21, 2018
Shazam! release date: Apr 5, 2019
Wonder Woman 2 release date: Nov 1, 2019