Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

March 30, 2016

Don't worry, everyone. I probably won't destroy your city as collateral damage.

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Kim Hollis: Warner Bros. and DC have made no secret that they are trying to launch their own answer to the Marvel Universe. They're obviously not going to be dissuaded from this plan, but how excited do you think moviegoers are based on this weekend's results?

Jason Barney: The negative reviews were out pretty early. There was a lot of buzz about this film, but one wonders if DC really missed the mark here...that if this opening was "expected" and if the movie was actually just average to good, they could have added $20-30 million to the opening. A Jurassic World type scenario.

People didn't avoid it, obviously, but in my mind the result could have been higher. After this weekend the drops are going to be substantial. The current direction isn't making as much money as it could.

All in all, though, just because one of the staple aspects of their push is a terrible product, that doesn't mean the rest of the DC material will be lacking. People are talking about this because it is such a disappointment, and it will sting.

I don't think it means the end of the effort to rival Marvel.

Felix Quinonez: I think this weekend's result shows that people want to like DC movies. Superman and Batman are a couple of the most iconic characters in all of fiction. And audiences were more than willing to give the movie the benefit of the doubt even if the trailers didn't look great and the movie got savaged by critics. But this seems like another strike against the DC Extended Universe. The fact is that if DC keeps missing the mark like this eventually fans won't be so willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.




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Ryan Kyle: If I could copy and paste Felix's response, I would. Batman and Superman are as iconic as you can get, so audience members will always show up, even if reviews stay far, far away. I think Wonder Woman also is a bit impenetrable critic-wise, especially as this will be her first big screen iteration. However, if the quality is not upped big time for the B- and C-list DC superhero standalone films like Aquaman and The Flash, I think they will be hard pressed to outgross The Green Lantern.

Kim Hollis: Do you think Dawn of Justice does anything for the careers of Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck or Gail Gadot?

Jason Barney: Not really. This is a big opening and they will be in the record books for that. The one I am most interested in seeing the reaction to is Ben Affleck. I have liked him in some things and HATED him in some others. Count me in the crowd that groaned when I heard he was to be the new Batman. However, of the three, his career is by far the most established.

Ben Gruchow: Zip for any of the three in either direction; BvS is a franchise product. Put simply, nobody's turning out to see Ben Affleck or Henry Cavill; they're turning out to see Batman and Superman. The closest there is to a cast member curiosity factor is Wonder Woman, but I think it's a pretty lopsided case of "I wonder what Wonder Woman is going to be like" versus "I wonder what Gal Gadot is going to be like as Wonder Woman." Silver lining: Nobody's really going to have their careers damaged by the bad work they do in this film, either (Affleck is a good actor who inhabits a terribly conceived and written Batman/Bruce Wayne).


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