“Justice League” Has Lowest DCEU Domestic Opening

With Justice League‘s opening weekend coming to an end, it looks like the DC Extended Universe’s big team-up movie is going to have the lowest domestic opening in the franchise so far.

That said, the $96 million that it made over a few days is nothing to sneeze at, and it easily won the weekend box office, with Lionsgate’s Wonder coming at a distant second with $27 million. However, DC Comics and Warner Bros. will be disappointed, since they were projecting a $110 million smash for the film’s 4,051 U.S. locations.

It does not help that it was surprisingly expensive to make—it cost $300 million, making it the third most costly film ever (after the third and fourth entries of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise). This was largely due to the movie’s many reshoots, which required juggling the various actors’ busy schedules and thus proved very expensive.

Justice League reportedly needs to make $600 million worldwide to break even. Fortunately it is well on its way, with a $281.5 million worldwide opening.

In comparison, the domestic openings of the other DCEU films have been, in order of success:

• Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice—$166 million
• Suicide Squad—$133 million
• Man of Steel—$116 million
• Wonder Woman—$103 million

Interestingly, this list is close to the inverse of how most moviegoers perceived the films’ qualities. While each has its fans, most critics and viewers thought Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice was too dark and convoluted, while Suicide Squad was a tonal improvement but sort of a mess in terms of editing. Man of Steel is sort “love it or hate it,” while Wonder Woman, the first real success of the franchise, was beloved by both critics and audiences.

Justice League, meanwhile, has been credited as being an artistic improvement over Batman v Superman, which it functions as a direct sequel to, but is still getting low critical approval. It may well be that the dour tone and messy storytelling of its predecessors have made audiences more cautious about rushing out to see it, though those who do seem to be more forgiving of its flaws than critics.