There were hopes at Warner Bros. and in the comic book fan community that JUSTICE LEAGUE would be the DC answer to AVENGERS, and that at the box office it could open to massive numbers. Not only did it fail to meet the minimum industry projections, but it became the worst opening DCEU movie yet with a weekend actual of $93 million. That’s a solid number for a normal blockbuster, but given the cost and hype of JL this is considered a huge disappointment, and according to a recent analysis the woes are only starting.
According to a deep, deep, DEEP report by Forbes, the current prediction is that JL stands to lose WB anywhere between $50 million – $100 million. This factors in too many variables to state here, but the formula takes into account the $300 million production budget and an estimated $150 million advertising cost and the author claims that the movie will finish around $235 million domestically (based on past DCEU performances) and around $400 million internationally. That means the total comes to $635 million, with insiders saying the movie would have to make at least $700 million to make even the slightest profit.
In the final global tally, WB gets to keep about 52% of the domestic haul and about 38% of the international total. Of course, home and TV release and merchandise can help add to the total, but also factored into the total cost are home entertainment expenses, talent participation expenses and “off-the-tops.” Total, Forbes estimates the final cost of everything will sit at about $600 million, and the projected revenue is about $545 million, leading to a $55 million loss – and that’s the best-case scenario.
Sadly, even if the projections are way off and the movie, does well through November and is able to make it into the green, it would still come out as a disappointment for the studio. The report cites the profits for other superhero movies in the past few years, and other expensive flicks like AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON and CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR were able to yield profits of $382 million and $255 million respectively.
This is not great news for WB but is definitely not great news for comic fans. I wanted this movie to be a hit as much as everyone else, and though I didn’t love it I still think it had redeeming qualities. But clearly, those viewers on the fence were turned off by negative reviews, not wanting to turn out for something they felt wouldn’t be much better than BATMAN V. SUPERMAN. I don’t think Warner Bros. will divert away from whatever formula they have cooked for their solo movies, but you can bet they will rethink some of their strategies in regards to future team-ups.
JUSTICE LEAGUE is in theaters now.