Looks like Justice League will be coming in a bit lower than expected once all is said and done.
Box Office Mojo brings word today that Zack Snyder’s contentious blockbuster is now expected to finish its theatrical run at just under $650 million worldwide, putting it below Man of Steel ($668 million). The advent of Star Wars: The Last Jedi had a marked effect on Justice League – ditto for the entire box office chart – resulting in more than 1,600 theaters across North America dropping the film this weekend, which means that WB’s tentpole only brought in $1.055 million over the past few days.
That brings its domestic total to about $222 million and worldwide, it sits at $646 million, which is a far cry from the expected $675 million, which had already been reduced from the initial estimate of $700m. Ouch!
To put things into perspective, Batman V Superman had already racked up $260 million on home turf by its second weekend, while Wonder Woman hit $275 million by its third. Justice League also posted the lowest domestic opening of any DCEU movie yet with $93 million, which really became the canary in the coal mine for many comic book supporters. Now, with a total of just $222m domestically, there’s no doubt about it that WB’s latest effort to get their burgeoning cinematic universe off the ground will be remembered as another blemish on the studio’s track record.
That’s because even if it hits $650 million total worldwide, it isn’t enough for the film to break even when accounting for marketing and distribution costs, as it was revealed late last month that Justice League would need to clear $700 million just to get in the black. Alas, that figure appears to be quite far out of reach now, which will only lump more pressure on the burly shoulders of Aquaman.
Expect that one to make land on December 21st, 2018.
