Maybe there’s still hope, after all?
Though Justice League got off to a rocky start at the box office last week, pulling in a very underwhelming $94 million on home turf, it now sounds like the pic could still make a strong finish thanks to its run in various international markets. According to the LA Times, China is proving to be a popular territory for the movie, as DC’s tentpole scooped up $52 million there last week, which is being seen as a major victory.
To put things into perspective, that number is 30% higher than Wonder Woman and only 10% below Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. Of course, a strong start in China won’t save the film’s total box office haul, but it’s a promising sign and has analysts thinking that though the North American numbers came in below estimates, the overseas business may help outweigh that – like we’ve seen happen with many big blockbusters lately.
Of course, another thing that may help with the rocky home turf start is if Warner Bros. were to release Zack Snyder’s Director’s Cut, which has become almost the stuff of legend in the week since Justice League debuted. Fans are already petitioning for it – that online petition has so far garnered more than 100,000 signatures – while Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa, believes there is enough leftover footage to make a second movie. Perhaps we’ll see Snyder’s version on home video, then? It’s possible, but for now, the studio’s keeping quiet on the matter.
Still, given that Justice League is said to be staring down the face of a $50m-$100m loss – Forbes did the number crunching earlier this week and revealed that Warner’s DC epic must collect $600 million in ticket sales alone if it’s to make it into the black – the Powers That Be would be wise to do all they can to recoup their costs. And that includes opening up another stream of revenue with a Director’s Cut release.
