On paper, this season’s big superhero action films — “Captain America: Civil War” and “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” — from the rival studios Disney and Warner Bros. could almost be the same movie, so similar are their plots, action sequences and allusions to heavyweight themes of topical interest.
Still, “Batman v Superman” would seem to have the edge where it really matters to the studios, which is at the box office. It opened first (on March 25). It had the two most valuable intellectual properties in the comic book universe, appearing together in starring roles. And it had enough A-list Hollywood talent to fill a multiplex.
Yet the results are in, and it’s not even close. The theatrical run of “Batman v Superman” is all but over, with a worldwide box office gross of $871 million. “Captain America” has surged past $1 billion in just three weeks.
Warner insists its film will earn a profit. But given that the studio gets only about half the box-office gross, any profit margin will be slim after deducting the film’s enormous production and marketing costs. And that has to be a disappointment considering what the studio must have expected. (Marvel’s “Avengers” topped $1.5 billion in 2012.)
More worrisome for Warner and its parent, Time Warner Inc., is that “Batman v Superman” was supposed to reboot the entire DC Comics universe and create a multibillion-dollar superhero franchise to rival Marvel’s. Now that’s in question.
“This is a significant misstep for the DC brand,” said Doug Creutz, senior media and entertainment analyst for Cowen & Company. “They’ve damaged their credibility with their audience. I’m not saying they can’t recover, but their next few movies had better be really good.
At one level, the explanation for the outcome is simple: “Captain America” is a much better movie. After a marathon of superhero moviegoing in Times Square this week, I can attest to that.
But you don’t need to take my word for it, or that of the established critics who praised “Captain America” and panned “Batman v Superman.” After a big opening weekend, attendance at “Batman v Superman” plunged, suggesting bad word of mouth. On the website Rotten Tomatoes, 91 percent of the audience said they liked “Captain America.” Just 67 percent liked “Batman v Superman.”
The starkly different outcomes show how difficult it is to make a successful blockbuster, even for a studio with an enviable track record like Warner Bros. (“Harry Potter,” “Lord of the Rings”). Sony faltered with its latest Spider-Man installment and forged a partnership with Marvel allowing its superhero to return to the Marvel fold. Fox has at times struggled with its X-Men franchise.
But whatever secret code of art and science produces a superhero blockbuster, Disney seems to have cracked it. “Captain America” is the 13th consecutive successful installment in the Marvel film universe. After buying Marvel for $4 billion, Disney has turned even obscure comic book characters into box-office bonanzas (“Ant-Man”), and it has managed to combine them in unexpected yet captivating ways.
I must've been bored
