Justice Leaguehas officially concluded its run at the box office and it can now be declared thelowest-grossing DCEU movieto date. The live-action, interconnected DC movie universe got started in 2013 withMan of Steel, just a year after Christopher Nolan concluded his seminal Batman trilogy withThe Dark Knight Rises. That movie has found its fans and did modestly well at the box office, but it never seemed possible that the first live-actionJustice Leaguemovie could somehow make less money than a middlingSupermanmovie did at the box office. Yet, here we are.
All told,Justice Leaguebrought in $657,924,295. That number would be cause for celebration for many blockbuster movies, but thiswasn’t your average tentpole franchise movie. This is the first time in cinema history that theJustice League, DC’s most important superhero team, has ever assembled on the big screen in live-action. Unfortunately, they just didn’t come together in a better movie. Even though quite a few DC fans enjoy the movie we got, it’s at best divisive and clearly average moviegoers had no interest in rushing out to see another middling DC movie. Especially afterWonder Womanshowed us just how good a modern, live-action DC movie can be.
Worldwide,Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceearned $873,634,919, making it thehighest-grossing DCEU movieat theBox Officeso far.Wonder Womancomes in at a relatively close number two with $821,847,012, followed bySuicide Squadwith $746,846,894 andMan of Steelwith $668,045,518. Then, at the very back of the pack isJustice League, with about $11 million less than Zack Snyder’sMan of Steel. When looking just at the domestic numbers, the picture changes a bit.Wonder Womancomes in a commanding first place with $412,563,408, followed byBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicewith $330,360,194.Justice Leaguemanaged just $229,024,295.
This to say,Justice Leaguedramatically underperformed. Much has been made of the drama behind the scenes in terms of this movie’s production. Zack Snyder was already deep into pre-production, with shooting ready to get underway, when the critical reaction toBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justicearrived. Warner Bros. was in a tough spot. Eventually, Snyder left the project, which we initially were told wasdue to a family tragedy. However, a later report claimed he had been fired. Joss Whedon came in to do significant reshoots onJustice Leagueand see the movie to the finish line, even though Snyder is still the sole credited director. The result is an unsatisfying Frankenstein’s monster of two different visions that clearly didn’t do the trick.
This dramatic productiondidn’t come cheapeither, asJust Leaguereportedly cost Warner Bros. $300 million to make. And that’s before marketing is factored in. Meaning, there’s no way this movie is going to be profitable. What’s more is that the failure ofJustice Leaguehas caused Warner Bros. to restructure DC Films and their handling of the DCEU moving forward. The future, beyondAquaman,Wonder Woman 2andShazam, is largely uncertain, as a result. These numbers were provided byBox Office Mojo.
