Superstar blockbuster Justice League has stumbled to the top of the U.S. box office after failing to hit an expected $100 million (GBP75 million) in its opening weekend.
Experts predicted the movie, featuring Ben Affleck as Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, would sail past the $100 million mark, but the superhero ensemble hauled in $96 million.
Some movie insiders are calling the opening an upset after tracking for the new Warner Bros/DC Comics film suggested the movie would come in at between $110 million and $120 million.
Justice League has also hauled in an added $185.5 million overseas, bringing the film’s total opening to a healthy $281.5 million.
Warner Bros. boss Jeff Goldstein insists the company isn’t sweating the fact the film failed to make it to $100 million at the North American box office, because executives expect the film to do well over the Thanksgiving weekend next week (23-26Nov17).
“It’s not just about the opening weekend, but it’s about the length of the run especially given the extremely lucrative Thanksgiving holiday; we have lots of room to run,” he told Deadline.
Justice League was blighted by misfortune earlier this year (17), when director Zack Snyder had to hand over the reins of the project to Joss Whedon after the death of his daughter, Autumn, who committed suicide in March (17).
Filming of the movie was completed in October (16), so Joss was put in charge of directing reshoots and handling post-production ahead of the film’s release.
Meanwhile, Julia Roberts’ new film Wonder wowed many by coming in second at the U.S. box office with $27 million, and Thor: Ragnarok, Daddy’s Home 2, and Murder on the Orient Express round out the new top five.
