It’s something that few could have predicted, but Warner Bros. could potentially lose as much as $100 million on
Justice League. DC Films’ first crack at an ensemble superhero movie did not pan out the same way everyone thought it would. The movie has prompted mixed reactions from critics, in addition to earning a
B+ Cinemascore and an underwhelming
Rotten Tomato Score rating. While the film could have done far worse both critically and commercially, that doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near a success either.
The blockbuster nabbed
$96 million in its opening weekend domestically, far from the
$110-120 million that it was tracking for but a couple of weeks earlier.
Justice League‘s U.S. debut was the lowest for a DC Film release yet, which is all the more ironic given that it was supposed to be Warner Bros.’ superhero crown jewel. Internationally, the film did better,
earning $281.5 million, but even that may not be enough to ensure that the expensive blockbuster is a commercial success. Case in point, it’s now being reported that
Justice League might not even turn a profit and worse, it could lose its studio a significant amount of money.
Forbes has broken down the numbers in an effort to gauge what the movie’s total gross will be.
Justice League‘s overall budget ballooned to reportedly $300 million
due to reshoots, with an additional $150 million for its marketing. That’s a total of $450 million spent on the movie, in addition to the global home entertainment costs ($60 million), talent guild residuals ($20 million), interest expense ($20 million), and finally talent costs to cover the cast, crew, and producers ($50 million). Final cost? Around $600 million.
To complete the equation,
Forbes has made an educated guess based on the current box office trajectory of the movie, with the domestic haul possibly ending up at $235 million (2.45 multiplied by the film’s opening weekend haul, with 2.45 being the median multiplier for the last 4 films from the franchise). Internationally,
Justice League could pocket as much as $400 million, assuming it performs along the lines of
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. That would give the film $635 million in earnings worldwide, roughly $545 million of which would end up in WB’s bank account. Should that be the case, that would result in at least a $55 million loss – before taking into account factors like overhead costs and the amount of time it takes for the film to earn revenue from other channels than the box office, which could drive the total to $100 million.
This, in turn, puts DC Films’ larger franchise plans in a tough spot. While James Wan’s
Aquaman has already finished filming and both David F. Sandberg’s
Shazam! and Patty Jenkins’
Wonder Woman 2 are expected to keep moving forward as planned, there are currently several other DC movies in development – including,
Nightwing,
Suicide Squad 2, and
Batgirl – that are now in danger of falling by the wayside, once WB and DC decide how best to move forward from here. Of course, given that it has just been a couple of days since
Justice League was released in theaters around the world, it’s best to not jump to
too many conclusions either way just yet.
