Captain America: Civil War Could Beat Batman V Superman's Box Office By Sunday
That's got to make uncomfortable reading for Warner Bros...
Whether you like it or not, the minute Warner Bros and Marvel Studios decided to release their gigantic superhero versus movies within a month of each other, they courted comparison. Proximity has a wonderful way of doing that, and that's not to mention the similarities in narrative, billing or cost.
So it's a bit of a head scratcher when people complain that we're all comparing Civil War and Batman v Superman. It presumably wouldn't have been an issue if Batman v Superman hadn't been something of a bust, but DC's flag-bearer falls down when compared to Cap's latest outing, so the parallels inevitably sting.
Now, there's more painful news for Batman v Superman, as industry experts are predicting that Civil War could best the film's entire box office haul by Sunday, just over a week after its domestic release.
According to Gitesh Pandya of BoxOfficeGuru.com, a strong Chinese performance and a predictably good American opening have put the film on course to take about $950m worldwide by the end of the weekend.
How much must Warner Bros regret hiring Zack Snyder now?
He might have made a film that suit his vision, and it might have made a lot of money, but it didn't make the kind of money it should have, or indeed that it needed to. And now a non-Avengers (at least not officially) Marvel film is casually sauntering towards another billion dollar take.
Hopefully Warner Bros will use this as an excuse to quietly go about finding someone else to take over after the first Justice League, because as long as a figure as divisive and VISIBLE as Snyder is involved, it will be a problem for a lot of fans. Things have to change.
Meanwhile, the Russos have taken to Instagram to thank Civil War's fans for their reception of the film and for helping it achieve its success so far...