10 Movies You Were Totally Wrong About
9. Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice
While it's fair to say that Zack Snyder is a relatively hit-and-miss filmmaker, the marketing for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice did an absolutely stunning job of casting those doubts aside.
The absurdly epic trailers did one of the hardest sells in cinema history, focusing on the wish fulfillment of finally getting to see Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) go to war.
It was enough that even the most cynical of comic book fans must've confessed to being at least a little excited, no matter Snyder's penchant for excess.
And in the very least, it felt like Batman v Superman would be the DC Extended Universe's answer to The Avengers - a box office phenomenon that would easily crack $1 billion worldwide and could even go far beyond that.
DC fans will long remember the day when the review embargo lifted for the movie, revealing a depressing number of critical pans before it settled at a pathetic 29%.
And the mixed word-of-mouth from even hardcore fans ensured Batman v Superman's box office fell off a cliff in its second weekend, suffering an historically awful drop which led to the film grossing "only" $873.6 million worldwide.
Warner Bros. invested $300 million in the production without even including marketing, so it's safe to say they were expecting a much better commercial performance.
A film in which Batman fights Superman should've easily made $1 billion, but because the version released in cinemas was such a choppy, underwhelming mess, many opted to wait for home video instead.
The film's disappointing performance ultimately caused Warner Bros. to reconsider the tonal and artistic direction of the DCEU from that point, opting to fashion follow-up Justice League as a lighter, more MCU-esque affair - but we all know how that turned out.