It goes without saying that Wonder Woman is a box office smash. It took home over $100 million on opening weekend, just from U.S. audiences. But how does it hold up next to other superhero movies?
According to its second weekend in theaters, Wonder Woman has more staying-power than any recent superhero movie.
Opening weekend is where blockbusters make bank, but the second week is a test of their longevity. When there’s a big drop-off between weeks one and two, it often means the film suffered from negative word-of-mouth. So while fans turned out for Batman v Superman on opening weekend, the audience shrank by 69 percent in the second week. That made headlines as one of the worst drop-offs in superhero movie history. (Suicide Squad and Man of Steel dropped by 67 and 65 percent, a similarly disappointing result for Warner Bros.)
Wonder Woman, on the other hand, only dropped by 45 percent. That’s the lowest drop-off for any modern superhero movie, including The Avengers at 50 percent.
We can’t know for sure why Wonder Woman is so popular, but we have a few educated guesses. First of all, Wonder Woman a huge hit with women—both in terms of box office numbers, and in the sense that it has a cultural impact. Women are excited to see themselves represented onscreen, and there are tons of viral stories about kids and adults being inspired by the movie. Secondly, Wonder Woman earned great reviews and positive buzz from audiences. And finally, it doesn’t have any serious competition.
was meant to overtake Wonder Woman this weekend, launching the “Dark Universe” franchise. Unfortunately, it received horrible reviews and people don’t know or care what Dark Universe is, so The Mummy opened in second place at the U.S. box office. Many people chose to see Wonder Woman instead—possibly for a second time.