‘Justice League’ Disappoints At Box Office With $96 Million On Opening Weekend

Superhero films are a big hit nowadays, so it came as a huge shock when “Justice League,” Warner Bros.’ highly anticipated superhero team-up, only raked in an estimated $96 million in the U.S. and Canada box office during its opening weekend.

The fifth installment of the DC Extended Universe is the first movie from the franchise to hit below the $100 million domestic debut, according to Entertainment Weekly. It followed “Wonder Woman” ($103.3 million), “Suicide Squad” ($133.7 million), “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” ($166 million), and “Man of Steel” ($116.6 million).

Sadly, the movie even hit below analysts’ projection of $110 million. DCEU spent around $250-$300 million to create “Justice League,” so the film still has a lot of catching up to do. Hopefully, the film’s overseas market will fare even better since it is expected to make $185.5 million.

Meanwhile, DCEU’s figures are nowhere near the box office numbers of Marvel, which opened with $207.4 million for “The Avengers,” and $191.3 million for “Avengers: Age of Ultron.”

Given the dismal numbers of “Justice League,” it would not come as a surprise that Ben Affleck, who plays Batman in this franchise, would indeed give up the Batsuit for good.

“The new Batman movie being developed by Matt Reeves (‘War for the Planet of the Apes’) is something I’m contemplating,” he told USA Today. “You don’t do it forever, so I want to find a graceful and cool way to segue out of it.”

Despite his plans to leave the DCEU, Affleck said superhero movies are essential in uplifting people’s spirits in this day and age. Superheroes represent hope, and even though they do not exist in real life, watching on the big screen is enough to inspire people that things will somehow work out.

“We certainly are in need of heroes in 2017,” Affleck said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on in the world, from natural to man-made disasters, and it’s really scary. Part of the appeal of this genre is wish fulfillment: Wouldn’t it be nice if there was somebody who can save us from all this, save us from ourselves, save us from the consequences of our actions and save us from people who are evil?”

“Justice League” was released on Nov. 17.