‘Batman v Superman’ falls 68 percent in second weekend

When Zack Snyder’s first Superman movie hit theaters in June 2013, it opened to $116.6 million before falling 65 percent in its second weekend. The only films opening above $100 million with a worse second-weekend drop were Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and three Twilight movies.

According to the Korean Film Council, the Hollywood blockbuster added only 344,398 viewers to its domestic total of 1.99 million over the April 1-3 weekend, representing only 35 percent of all ticket sales.

In sharp contrast, Disney’s Zootopia dropped a mere one percent in its third week for a weekend BO of $3.1 million and an overall cume of $14.5 million off 301 screens. God’s Not Dead 2 opened this weekend in fourth place, but did not beat the numbers from the original film, culminating in an estimate of $8.1 million. The new movie “God’s Not Dead 2” and “Miracles from Heaven” finished 4th and 5th respectively. The Divergent Series: Allegiant, in the meantime, struggles on a likely high (but unreported) budget, with an estimated $5.7 million and a worldwide gross of $136.7 million, while 10 Cloverfield Lane remains a mysterious presence, with an estimated $4.8 million bringing in $63.6 million on an unreleased budget. “Meet the Blacks“, $4.1 million 9. The said figure, however, is not inclusive of March 24’s $27.7 million preview earnings which renders the movie’s actual first day gross at $53.9 million.

The news this weekend is not good for Warner Bros., as Batman and Superman lose their opening frame powers of persuasion, and the bottom falls out of the box office in the sophomore frame. The film is sitting at an impressive 93% on Rotten Tomatoes and could, if Bleecker Street pushes it wider, get as high as $15 million to $20 million.

Last year’s hit “Furious 7” and 2012’s “The Dark Knight Rises“, for example, both dropped about 60 percent week to week. Richard Linklater’s new comedy Everybody Wants Some!! also opened on Wednesday in 19 theaters, earning $323,000 for the weekend with a per-theater average of $17,000.

By contrast, “Batman v Superman” has been buoyed by a 62 percent take from overseas receipts, and at $683 million already – more than its predecessor, the Superman-centric “Man of Steel” made in its entire box-office run – the DC film should soon pass “Deadpool“.

Sony Pictures Classic also released the Miles Davis biopic “Miles Ahead” starring Don Cheadle as the jazz legend.