“Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” may have broken records this weekend, but it was Wonder Woman who stole the show.
The DC Comics action-packed superhero film wherein the Dark Knight of Gotham and the alien savior of Krypton battle it out at the behest of an evil millionaire (read a buncha dudes fight for no reason) did extraordinarily well at the box office during its opening weekend. As Deadline reports, “Batman v. Superman” opened worldwide at $424 million, beating “The Avengers’” $392.5 million worldwide opening to mark the fourth highest global premiere weekend of all-time.
The fans may be flocking, but the critics aren’t eating it up; “Batman v. Superman” has been getting tepid reviews, at best. But if there’s one positive to come out of this movie, its that Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman has been labeled the highlight of the entire dark, loud, debacle. The Guardian called Wonder Woman “the best thing in this movie.” The Wrap wrote that Wonder Woman’s appearance, “injects some real vitality into the sludgy, superhero sameness.” The Chicago Tribune declared, “An hour into ‘Batman v. Superman,’ you wonder: Can we just settle this little spat and move on to Gadot’s ‘Wonder Woman’ movie?”
He’s not the only one who’s a bit antsy to get to “Monster” director Patty Jenkins’ 2017’s “Wonder Woman” already. And it seems that DC has taken the hint. Over the weekend, Entertainment Weekly released a new photo of Gadot’s Wonder Woman in costume along with three other amazing Amazonians:
From left to right, there’s Lisa Loven Kongsli (“Force Majeure”) as Antiope’s lieutenant Menalippe, Gadot’s Diana/Wonder Woman, Connie Nielsen (“Gladiator”) as Diana’s mother, Queen Hippolyta, and Robin Wright as General Antiope. “Batman v. Superman” may be breaking records in the theaters, but the upcoming “Wonder Woman” movie is all anyone can talk about.
Meanwhile, in alternate programming, the other big opening of the weekend was Nia Vardalos’ “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” the sequel to the 2002 indie sleeper hit “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Deadline reports that the movie opened at $18.1 million, besting the industry projection of $15 million. The film came in third after Disney’s “Zootopia.”
Despite a 14 year gap between films, marketing campaigns such as NBC’sToday for a “My Big Fat Greek TODAY” wedding contest and strategically placed TV spots helped get the word out. Vardalos was unhappy that her family comedy was pitted against the superhero juggernaut in the press, and box office receipts prove that she was right to think both would find an audience.
[via Deadline]
