With Almost $875m Banked, Was Batman v Superman A Failure?

At the (almost) final analysis, it looks like Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice is likely to finish in cinemas with a more than respectable $875m (according to The Hollywood Reporter at least. That projections comes as the film has now reached $862.9m worldwide and is coming to the end of its cinematic run.

That might sound like a lot of money, on the surface, but it's all a matter of proximity and expectations. Warner Bros needed the film to hit the $1 billion mark, and it was predicted it would eclipse the $1.4bn box office of The Avengers, even into the first week of release when it scored astronomical figures.

Unfortunately, the quality of the film killed off any rewatchability factor, and the critical (and fan response) mauling meant second week figures dropped to embarrassing depths and the billion mark became wildly optimistic. Figures between $200m and $250m have been suggested as the budget, which doesn't take into account marketing or other overhead costs, so despite profitability, the haul WB have pulled in probably isn't as much as they would have been comfortable with.

It's certainly nowhere near the levels of profit Marvel are pulling in, and that surely has to sting. But there are positives to note: it out-performed Man Of Steel and Joel Schumacher's Batman movies, so that's something, and it considerably outsold Batman Begins, which itself was a launch-pad movie too.

But there's no getting around the film's actual reception. Compared to the movies around it on the box office ladder, it's a critical bust, to almost comical levels.

Seriously, look at the company it's in: it's surrounded on both sides by Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films (with the least loved third movie out-performing it), with Guardians Of The Galaxy - Marvel's supposed big gamble clocking in with just over $770m. In critical terms, and in actual quality terms, all of those movies vastly outperformed Snyder's sequel.

In terms of the films that come higher up the box office list, it's not even close. The Avengers and The Avengers 2, The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises and Iron Man 3 are all vastly superior films, even with some iffy issues in there. To be frank, that financial performance without anything like the same critical response is astonishing.

It is a success entirely despite itself, and while Warner Bros will no doubt have their heads turned by that figure, they should also have half a mind on what it could have been if anyone other than fervent DC fanboys had actually liked it.

The only concern now is that the figures will validate WB and Zack Snyder's approach, and they'll once more carry on regardless. Even with whispers of creative differences and pressure on Snyder, it's unlikely he'll make anything other than the film he wants to make with Justice League, and perhaps banking $900m will give him the amunition he needs to press that argument.

Let's hope not.

What do you think? Should Batman v Superman be classed as a success of a failure? Share your reactions below in the comments thread.