Justice League has officially concluded its run at the box office and it can now be declared the lowest-grossing DCEU movie to date. The live-action, interconnected DC movie universe got started in 2013 with Man of Steel, just a year after Christopher Nolan concluded his seminal Batman trilogy with The Dark Knight Rises. That movie has found its fans and did modestly well at the box office, but it never seemed possible that the first live-action Justice League movie could somehow make less money than a middling Superman movie did at the box office. Yet, here we are.
All told, Justice League brought in $657,924,295. That number would be cause for celebration for many blockbuster movies, but this wasn't your average tentpole franchise movie. This is the first time in cinema history that the Justice League, DC's most important superhero team, has ever assembled on the big screen in live-action. Unfortunately, they just didn't come together in a better movie. Even though quite a few DC fans enjoy the movie we got, it's at best divisive and clearly average moviegoers had no interest in rushing out to see another middling DC movie. Especially after Wonder Woman showed us just how good a modern, live-action DC movie can be.
Worldwide, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earned $873,634,919, making it the highest-grossing DCEU movie at the Box Office so far. Wonder Woman comes in at a relatively close number two with $821,847,012, followed by Suicide Squad with $746,846,894 and Man of Steel with $668,045,518. Then, at the very back of the pack is Justice League, with about $11 million less than Zack Snyder's Man of Steel. When looking just at the domestic numbers, the picture changes a bit. Wonder Woman comes in a commanding first place with $412,563,408, followed by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice with $330,360,194. Justice League managed just $229,024,295.
This to say, Justice League dramatically underperformed. Much has been made of the drama behind the scenes in terms of this movie's production. Zack Snyder was already deep into pre-production, with shooting ready to get underway, when the critical reaction to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice arrived. Warner Bros. was in a tough spot. Eventually, Snyder left the project, which we initially were told was due to a family tragedy. However, a later report claimed he had been fired. Joss Whedon came in to do significant reshoots on Justice League and see the movie to the finish line, even though Snyder is still the sole credited director. The result is an unsatisfying Frankenstein's monster of two different visions that clearly didn't do the trick.
This dramatic production didn't come cheap either, as Just League reportedly cost Warner Bros. $300 million to make. And that's before marketing is factored in. Meaning, there's no way this movie is going to be profitable. What's more is that the failure of Justice League has caused Warner Bros. to restructure DC Films and their handling of the DCEU moving forward. The future, beyond Aquaman, Wonder Woman 2 and Shazam, is largely uncertain, as a result. These numbers were provided by Box Office Mojo.