Despite some scathing reviews and some skeptical moviegoers who thought they couldn't possibly get into a movie about superheroes in glowing green suits, Green Lantern pulled in a nice $3.35 million from midnight showings at over 1800 theaters, according to Deadline. That's just a hair more than Thor made ($3.2 million) and an even smaller hair above X-Men: First Class's take ($3.3 million).
The real question now is how Green Lantern's opening weekend total will hold against those films. Thor opened at a really healthy $65 million and has gone on to make $433 million worldwide, more than enough to make up for the production and marketing costs. X-Men: First Class has had less time in theaters and got off to a slightly less strong start with a $55 million opening, but it's already got $239 in global grosses and will probably turn out profitable as well. Green Lantern, of course, cost way more than either of those films--- $300 million, by some estimations-- and has to work a lot harder to turn a profit. It's also the intended kickoff for a lot of DC franchise films at Warner Bros., as they consider building a Justice League movie in a similar move to what Marvel is doing with The Avengers. If Green Lantern even manages to underperform rather than outright tank this weekend, there's probably still hope for that next step to happen.
For more on Green Lantern you can read our review or our To 3D or Not To 3D feature helping you figure out which ticket to buy. It's also the main topic of conversation on this week's Operation Kino podcast.
