While Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice’s opening weekend was impressive, even based on high expectations, it wasn’t unexpected. Simply putting the names Superman and Batman in your movie title is going to bring in a couple hundred million dollars. The real question was going to be, after that amazing opening, how well would the movie hold up in its second weekend, after word of mouth about the film’s actual quality began to spread. The answer looks to be, quite well actually.
While critics have been nearly universal in their unkind assessment of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, the fan response has been much stronger. It’s likely this positive response that is setting up Dawn of Justice to have another strong weekend. According to Fandango, BvS is currently leading their weekend ticket sales and it’s also at the top of their "Fanticipation" movie meter with a score of 91 out of 100. What’s even more telling is that the people who saw the movie last weekend liked it so much that they’re going to see it again this weekend. According to the ticket purchasing site, repeat purchases are 30% higher for Batman v Superman than the average blockbuster.
There are a few other factors that may be playing into the fact that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is about to have another great weekend. Chief among them is the fact that there’s really nothing opening this weekend that’s looking to challenge it. The widest new release opening Friday is the religious drama God’s Not Dead 2, which may be a perfectly fine film, but it’s not going to draw the blockbuster movie crowd interested in comic book movies. This was likely a conscious decision by most studios who were afraid a big movie opening this weekend would get squashed.
Having said that, nothing should be taken away from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice here. The fact that this info is coming from Fandango means that we’re talking about pre-sale tickets. These aren’t simply fans who may end up at the movies this weekend and decide to pick Batman v Superman. These are people who are buying tickets ahead of time for this movie because they want to see it. They’re making plans to experience this film. And many are planning to see it a second time.
The ticket sale drop off that Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice saw between Friday and Sunday of opening weekend gave many the impression that the second weekend would see a significant fall. While it’s still possible that this could happen, it could be that Dawn of Justice will top a weekend that’s lackluster overall, it’s also possible that the decline won’t be nearly as large as predicted.
Let us know if you’re going to go see Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice this weekend. We also want to hear from you if you’re planning to go back and see it again. And while you're at it, try your hand at some Batman trivia!
