Justice League is currently projected to open with $110-120 million at the domestic box office, though those estimates may rise after Thor: Ragnarok opens in theaters. Marvel Studios’ third Thor movie is premiering in several international markets this week, ahead of its stateside release in November. That means that the public’s attention is currently fixed more on Ragnarok than DC’s superhero team-up epic, which could be impacting Justice League’s box office tracking results.

Now that Justice League tickets are officially on sale in the U.S., box office trackers are better able to gauge just how much interest there is in the DC superhero tentpole at the moment. Its current numbers put Justice League on course to surpass the $103.2 million domestic box office opening for Wonder Woman earlier this year, but are significantly lower than Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice’s own stateside opening weekend take from last year ($166 million).

According to Deadline, Justice League is a 56% definite choice, 15% first choice and 26% unaided pick for moviegoers - which, in layman terms, means that a significant majority of filmgoers are planning to check it out in theaters. Eighty nine percent of users polled by Fandango say that they are excited to see Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman again in the film, further illustrating how the critical and commercial success of director Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman solo film has benefited the DC movie franchise as a whole.

Next to Gadot as Diana Prince, the majority of Fandango users say they are most excited to see Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman in Justice League. That’s good news for not only Zack Snyder’s latest DC Comics adaptation, but also James Wan’s now-wrapped Aquaman solo film (which hit theaters next year). Both Momoa and Gadot’s onscreen superhero alter egos have figured heavily into Warner Bros. Pictures’ Justice League marketing strategy to date, so it looks like that approach is paying off well.

While Justice League is currently projected to open noticeably lower than its predecessor Batman V Superman (as mentioned earlier), that was always to be expected. Batman V Superman, which Snyder also helmed, was a polarizing film and faced little competition in theaters, whereas Thor: Ragnarok will be in its third weekend of release in the U.S. (and, presumably, still going pretty strong) when Justice League hits the scene. Wonder Woman’s box office tracking improved significantly over the last few weeks before its own theatrical release, making it all the more plausible that Justice League will follow suit.

WB’s marketing for Justice League is also far from over, which is another factor that should be considered here. The studio has been highlighting a different DC superhero from the film each week (or, in this week’s case, both Wonder Woman and Cyborg), leading to speculation that the campaign will conclude with a Superman reveal ahead of the movie’s release. Such a move would only further bolster Justice League’s commercial prospects, so don’t be surprised if these numbers are revised sometime in the near future.

Source: Deadline

  • Aquaman Release Date: 2018-12-21 Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25 Justice League Release Date: 2017-11-17 Shazam! Release Date: 2019-04-05