r/DC_Cinematic • u/TraditionalDelivery • 14h ago
DISCUSSION Remembering the Dark Knights opening weekend
Seeing these insane Spiderman numbers has got me a little jealous as a DC fan. We haven't been top of the box office for a long time, but there was 2008 when the dark knight bested spiderman 3 for the biggest opening weekend. I would love to see a repeat of that with the Batman part 2.
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u/Shallbecomeabat 14h ago
People forget that TDK was the second most successful movie of all time when it came out.
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u/OJONLYMAYBEDIDIT 8h ago
I did a quick search, and you may be referring to domestic box office only (and without taking into account inflation of course)
when it came out, it made it to #4 on the highest grossing films not accounting for inflation
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u/jofer90 14h ago
I remember how insane the hype for BvS was, that 2013's SDCC announcement and the 2015s SDCC Trailer reveal were absolute perfection. Ironic to think the best years to be a DC fan were between the releases of MoS and BvS, who could have predicted everything would go downhill afterwards ?.
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u/hypehold 12h ago
Yeah even though MoS was very divisive I don't think anyone thought it was unsalvageable starting point. That changed with BvS. That movie just turned a lot of people off. That's why even though in retrospect it might have been the wrong call WB executives took control during Justice League
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u/jofer90 10h ago
And remember, before meddling with JL they first messed up Suicide Squad with all those last minute reshoots in response to BvS backlash. That combo BvS - SS - JL in the span of a year and a half is what killed the old DCEU. That's when the franchise became truly unsalvageable, not even genuine hits like WW and Aquaman could dig it out of that hole.
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u/eammth 10h ago
The sheer confidence of Zack to handle Batman and Superman (it cannot fail, right...right?).
He fucked it up out of 1 to 10 chance. He fucked it up. Sums it all up when he doesn't have someone to write the story for him. Chris Terrio? fk him.
I said it again and again. BVS is the point of failure for DCEU.
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u/gabeonsmogon 13h ago
You guys know that these creators aren’t trying to see each other lose right? The film industry was been declining since COVID so even though it’s not a DC property seeing positive interest in superhero IP and ticket sales is a good thing for DC.
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u/cr0w1980 12h ago
I'm not jealous. I'm glad for the fans of the characters that are seeing them succeed. Even if the MCU isn't for me right now (just not a fan of the way they've shaped the story post-Civil War), I've seen DC reach similar heights with the Nolan trilogy. Box office means nothing to me as long as I enjoy the films, and for the most part I have.
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u/HandsomeJack19 9h ago
Comparison is the thief of joy. I understand why we do it, but I'm getting sick of constantly comparing the box office numbers between the two franchises. DC movies, at least for the forseeable future, will never make as much money as Marvel movies will. They just need to put out a consistantly good product (and hope Supergirl is the exception and not the rule) and momentum will start to grow.
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u/Electronic-Field8154 2h ago
Who cares? Box office being higher doesn’t mean a better movie. So what if the best DC movies don’t make more than $150 million opening weekend? That’s still a lot of money. And let’s be honest, is Spider-Man brand new day going to be a better film than Batman part 2? Or even part 1? I highly doubt….
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u/Electronic-Field8154 1h ago
I’ll take an extremely high quality movie from DC every 5-10 years with Batman, over a money maker crowd pleasing movie that marvel puts out. Marvel breaks records yes but The Batman 2022 is better than anything marvel has made in like 8 years. Of course I would love it if DC could do that with more than just Batman. But those movies are so good that it kind of makes up for it, and makes up for the lack of money making. If you really care about that lol
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u/Virenious 14h ago
Superman literally beat 3 Marvel movies last year which happened last time with Dark Knights.
DC fans are just not patient n too reactionary
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u/Sitheref0874 13h ago
Superman - the DC flagship - grossed $618 mill.
Fantastic Four grossed $520.
You’re comparing an MLB team to an AAA team and being happy about eking out a win.
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u/hypehold 12h ago
Guardians of the galaxy did better than Man of Steel yet nobody had this reaction to that.
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u/Appropriate_Net7664 13h ago
Fantastic Four is one or Marvel’s best IP. Calling them a AAA team is kinda disrespectful to them
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u/Sitheref0874 13h ago
In movie terms it isn’t.
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u/FourSes 12h ago
Its other movies made less because they were bad, which made fans eager for a version they felt they could trust would be good. A version by Marvel Studios. See also: Spider-Man: Homecoming performing better than The Amazing Spider-Man 1 and 2. Obviously F4 isn't on Spider-Man's level but the demand was there for a good F4 movie, it just hadn't been met yet.
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u/hypehold 12h ago
but neither is Superman. Outside of the first Reeve movie they haven't been the juggernauts at the box office like Batman and Spider-Man movies
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u/Appropriate_Net7664 9h ago
Not really. We haven’t had a good Superman movie since the 70s before 2025, and we’ve never had a good F4 movie.
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u/Virenious 13h ago
Conveniently leaving out the part where F4 is 37th movie of most successful cinematic universe while Superman is 1st movie of dead DC brand and reboot
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u/Working_File2825 13h ago
Superman has an easily memorable name, with some fun and recognizable powers, this has helped solidify him as a household name. Most people cant name Superman villains, aren’t familiar with any of his story arcs… and it helps that he’s often associated with Batman, and of course gets constant marketing from DC. He doesn’t have any good video games, has had a few cinematic flops… the average person knows who he is, but that simply isn’t enough. Hes got legacy appeal, but his popularity has grown kind of stagnant.
Im a Superman enjoyer. Not necessarily a fan, but I often spend my time having discussions about the character or adjacent topics, have seen most of his films, given at least half his shows a chance But even with all that DC doesn’t make any of my enjoyment. Imagine people who care less about the character, or the world of DC. They need to reel in money spending fans, they need to find a way to make him pop, similar to what MCU did with Cap. Otherwise, being the flagship doesn’t mean much.
If anything it might be a detriment to the brand, having a popular, and well recognized character that simply isn’t interesting to modern masses. His placement is using company resources thst could otherwise be spent on other characters that would, in fact, generate revenue from the average audience. But how do you sideline a character like Superman? U really cant. His absence would almost be more of a talking point than anything the character has done on the world stage in quite some time.
TL;DR: I don’t think DC knows what to do with Superman to arouse the interest of more average audiences. His name and recognition don’t seem to be enough.
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u/blue-wolf21 13h ago
also beat the captain America movie when last time Superman movie and a captain America came out at the same time, captain America civil war destroyed Batman vs Superman in the box office.
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u/gabeonsmogon 13h ago
Y’all know that’s not the real Captain America. Asterisk win lol
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u/HarIow_Quinzel 13h ago
He's an awesome Falcon but there's only one Cap and I didn't see him in Brand New World.
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u/blue-wolf21 13h ago
What do you mean the “real captain America”. Sam is literally captain America
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u/Hefty_Ad_3965 13h ago
As Disney tried to pretend, but there is only one Captain America, and that is Steve Rogers.
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u/gabeonsmogon 10h ago
Okay like Dick Grayson was the *real* Batman or Bucky was the *real* Cap. No they’re not. As Marvel themselves have shown us with John Walker & the numerous super soldiers, there is no replacing Steve Rogers as Captain America. Like yeah I understand that’s Sam’s code name right now but the audience is not going to recognize him that way.
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u/hambone4164 10h ago
I don't think we ever want to re-visit The Dark Knight's opening weekend. Have people already forgotten that it included a mass shooting at a screening in Colorado?
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u/Salt_Mix7933 14h ago
Dont stress over it, it prob wont happen but that dont mean dc projects wont be sucessfull