Weekend Box Office Report: March 25-27, 2016

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Batman v Superman = $$$!

The highly anticipated confrontation between two of the world's most popular superheroes was the main attraction at the box office this weekend as BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE soared to the top with an estimated $170.1 million!

Director Zack Snyder's clash of iconic DC Comics characters was virtually guaranteed to have an epic debut, which it accomplished by crushing the records for best March opening weekend (easily defeating the $152.5 million of previous champ THE HUNGER GAMES) and biggest Easter weekend, ahead of FURIOUS 7's $147.1 million opening last year.

Additionally, the PG-13 precursor to the ensemble JUSTICE LEAGUE scored the biggest opening for any DC Comics adaptation, surging ahead of the $160.8 million start of THE DARK KNIGHT RISES. Adding Ben Affleck's caped crimefighter (and Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman) also boosted the last son of Krypton into the financial stratosphere beyond the $116.6 million opening of his solo adventure MAN OF STEEL.

Faithful fans rushed to witness the costumed conflict, feeding $82 million toward the total from its Friday opening day (although that figure includes Thursday night screenings) to see their favorite heroes hammer each other through buildings this Easter weekend.

For those who follow the old Marvel/DC rivalry, BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE also had a bigger opening weekend than all other comic book adaptations except for Marvel's IRON MAN 3 ($174.1 million), AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON ($191.2 million) and THE AVENGERS ($207.4 million).

The extravagant superhero smackdown (which cost a reported $250 million) also gathered $254 million from international audiences, giving it a worldwide opening weekend total of $424 million. Not everyone was thrilled by the spectacle, however — the movie currently holds a 29% critical average on Rotten Tomatoes.

The clamorous contest of champions finally nudged Disney's ZOOTOPIA from the top down to second place with $23.1 million on its fourth weekend in theaters. The animal-packed family feature is now at nearly $700 million worldwide, making it the Mouse House's biggest (non-Pixar) animated movie outside of FROZEN and THE LION KING.

Opening in third place was the counterprogramming comedy MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING 2 with $18.1 million (just about its reported production cost). The first MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING slowly rolled out in 2002 and stayed in theaters for an entire year before ending with $241 million domestic and $368 million worldwide (on a $5 million budget). Critics didn't seem to find the sequel particularly necessary, judging by the movie's 24% Rotten Tomatoes average.

The faith-based Jennifer Garner drama MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN held up well on the religious holiday weekend, sliding only one spot from last week's third place opening with $9.5 million (a drop of only 36%). The same can't be said for THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT as the third chapter in that dystopian young-adult series plunged 67% from its second place opening last weekend for $9.5 million and a 10-day domestic total of $46.6 million.

10 CLOVERFIELD LANE was in sixth with $6 million, and the J.J. Abrams-produced thriller is at a $56 million domestic total on its third weekend. DEADPOOL followed in seventh with $5 million, and remains the biggest superhero movie of 2016… for the time being. LONDON HAS FALLEN continued falling to eighth with $2.9 million.

At the bottom of the list, the Sally Field comedy HELLO, MY NAME IS DORIS expanded to 488 screens and jumped into ninth place with $1.7 million. The drone thriller EYE IN THE SKY also added 88 screens to its limited release and swooped into tenth with $1 million.

Outside the chart, THE REVENANT scrambled out of sight (again) with Tina Fey's WHISKEY TANGO FOXTROT, the romcom THE PERFECT MATCH and Sacha Baron Cohen's THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY. In limited release, Tom Hiddleston apparently didn't make much of an impression as Hank Williams and the biopic I SAW THE LIGHT had an unremarkable $10k per-screen average.

Next weekend delivers the sequel GOD'S NOT DEAD 2 and the Mike Epps comedy MEET THE BLACKS, while limited releases include Don Cheadle's Miles Davis biopic MILES AHEAD and (on Wednesday) Richard Linklater's EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!! (the two exclamation points are part of the title, not implied excitement).

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