Even though many people were mentally prepared, when the box office data for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice began to be released, it still left many in shock.
On December 22, the film's opening day, including midnight screenings, it brought in $35.27 million. On Saturday, December 23, it earned $37.69 million. On Sunday, December 24, despite the impact of Christmas Eve, it still managed to pull in $23.91 million.
Over the first weekend, the total box office reached $96.87 million. It was just shy of breaking the $100 million mark!
On Monday, December 25, Christmas Day, despite being a Monday, the box office surged again due to the holiday, earning $31.78 million.
On Tuesday, December 26, as people returned to work, the earnings dropped to $16.69 million. On Wednesday, December 27, it made $16.31 million, and on Thursday, December 28, it earned $15.51 million.
The final tally for the first week, from December 22 to December 28, was a staggering $177.16 million.
A first-week total of $177.16 million shattered the record set by Jurassic Park 2 earlier that summer, which had earned $129.13 million in its opening week. The new record was nearly $50 million higher.
With an average of $51,400 per theater across 3,443 screens, the film was a resounding success. The 26 IMAX screens alone contributed $5.73 million to the total box office. While this might seem small compared to the overall $177 million, the per-screen average for IMAX was an astounding $220,000.
For a week straight, all 26 IMAX theaters across North America were sold out, with tickets in high demand. It became evident that if Batman v Superman had been shown on more IMAX screens—perhaps around 100—IMAX alone could have contributed $20 million in just one week, which is more than many films make in total during their first week.
Even Danelys and Warner Bros. hadn't anticipated the box office performance to be this high. Before the release, the most optimistic projection from the marketing teams of both companies had been around $150 million for the first week.
Reaching $150 million would have meant a solid chance for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice to hit $500 million in North America. Now, with a first-week total of $177 million, it was hard to predict where the final box office would land. It seemed possible that the domestic gross might reach $600 million. And if this movie, which was just a mid-phase gathering of DC superheroes, could achieve such numbers, what would Justice League bring in the future?
The strong performance of Batman v Superman wreaked havoc on other films released during the Christmas week. Beauty and the Beast, a 3D animated film that had dominated the box office since Thanksgiving, saw its weekly earnings plummet by 46% in its sixth week, marking its biggest weekly drop yet. The film's weekly earnings dropped from $21.15 million to $11.43 million.
In six weeks, Beauty and the Beast had grossed $211.97 million. Given the unexpected strength of Batman v Superman, it was unlikely that Beauty and the Beast would reach the projected $250 million total that Danelys Entertainment had initially hoped for.
If Beauty and the Beast, which ranked second, was struggling, the third-place film, When the Dream Ends, directed by Forest Whitaker, also suffered, with a 43% drop in its second week, earning $10.81 million.
This drama, which had shown strong potential as a dark horse with its focus on African American themes, was unfortunately released at the wrong time. With a $15 million budget, it had earned a total of $29.77 million in two weeks. Whether it could reach $50 million was still uncertain.
Further down the list, films like The New Dragon Phoenix starring Harrison Ford and Vampires Go Crazy starring Leslie Nielsen had become almost irrelevant.
December 29 marked the beginning of a new box office week. Many filmmakers likely wished they could pull their films from release due to the overwhelming competition, but with marketing budgets already spent, they had no choice but to proceed. On December 29, nine new films hit theaters, four of which were major commercial releases, while the remaining five were smaller films aimed at award season.
One of the most prominent was Oliver Stone's Nixon, a Disney-backed biopic with a $44 million budget, clearly aimed at award season. It opened on 1,310 screens and was designed for a slow-release strategy.
Warner Bros. also released Grumpy Old Men 2, a comedy sequel starring Hollywood veterans Jack Lemmon and Sophia Loren. The first film, released two years earlier, had grossed over $70 million. The sequel opened on 1,995 screens.
MGM teamed up with Jean-Claude Van Damme again for another B-movie action film, Sudden Death, which opened on 1,681 screens.
The final major release was Fox's Tom Sawyer, based on Mark Twain's novel, which opened on 1,609 screens.
Beyond these four major releases, five smaller films were also released, including two from Danelys Entertainment. The first was Kathryn Bigelow's Detroit, a $30 million mid-budget film about the 1967 Detroit riots. Simon had been involved in the project since the script stage and had overseen the entire process. Although the film was well-made, its sensitive subject matter—dealing with a racially charged riot—was not the most appealing to audiences. It opened on just 63 screens.
The second Danelys film was Dead Man Walking, based on a true story, directed by Tim Robbins and starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. It opened on 27 screens. In Simon's memory, Dead Man Walking had been both a commercial and critical success, and it had earned Susan Sarandon her first Oscar for Best Actress.
Aside from these two Danelys films, there were three other small releases: Georgia, An Affair to Remember, and Richard III. Of these, only An Affair to Remember, directed by Michael Hoffman, who had emerged from Sundance, was worth noting. The others were forgettable.
Despite the influx of new films, nothing could stop the juggernaut that was Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
On December 29, the first day of the second week, Batman v Superman still managed to earn a whopping $26.86 million, just a 24% drop from the previous week.
Over the weekend, the film earned another $71.33 million, with a modest 26% drop.
On Monday, January 1, 1991, New Year's Day, Batman v Superman brought in another $23.17 million thanks to the holiday.
From January 2 to January 4, as the workweek resumed, the film still earned a total of $31.39 million.
By the end of its second week, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice had earned a massive $128.89 million, bringing its cumulative two-week total to an unprecedented $306.05 million.
With this record-breaking opening, many believed that Batman v Superman had the potential to push the domestic box office ceiling from $400 million to $600 million.
And it wasn't just in North America where the film was performing well. The overseas box office was equally impressive. In the 31 countries that released the film simultaneously with North America, including the UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia, the film's overseas box office had already surpassed $200 million. With major markets like France, Japan, and China set to open soon, the film's international box office was expected to rival North America's.
Jurassic Park 2, released over the summer, had grossed a global total of $1.159 billion, with $413 million coming from North America and $746 million from overseas.
Without a doubt, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice would surpass Jurassic Park 2 globally.
As 1996 arrived, the world's moviegoers continued to revel in the excitement of Batman v Superman.
In Australia, on the northwestern part of Tasmania Island, in the Westeros family's territory, it was now Saturday, January 6, 1996.
After Christmas, Simon's family had flown from Los Angeles to Melbourne to spend New Year's with the Johnstons. Two days ago, they quietly arrived at the family's expanding private estate on Tasmania Island.
Over the years, Simon had bought over one-third of this large island in southeastern Australia, amassing a private estate of 23,000 square kilometers, or over 5 million acres. To consolidate his holdings, Simon had invested heavily to close mining and timber operations, particularly in the western plains, hills, and mountains, while offering generous compensation to relocate residents.
Simon's continued purchases of land on Tasmania Island had sparked various rumors and conspiracy theories, making the island a destination for adventurous travelers worldwide. Some people even tried to trespass on the Westeros family's private land, creating numerous incidents that required the family's security team to intervene.
Simon's original intent for Tasmania was to create a vast private retreat far from the public eye. But beyond that, he also had plans for the future.
Simon had always been a pessimist. The higher he rose, the more pessimistic he became about humanity's future. He believed that if an inevitable crisis arose, his family would need a safe haven. Tasmania, isolated in the southern hemisphere, seemed the perfect
choice. The island not only had Australia as a natural barrier, but it was also far from potential global unrest.
On the edge of a farm where the forest met the pastures, Simon and Janet sat under the wide porch of a country-style estate, enjoying the summer sunset in the southern hemisphere. They were watching over their two youngest children, Greenwich and Snow, while Jennifer played with the other three kids on the spacious lawn nearby.
After laying little Snow, who had just fallen asleep in her arms, back into the crib, Janet returned to Simon's side. Looking at the thick stack of documents Simon was reading, she continued their earlier conversation: "If we're moving into the healthcare industry next, it won't be easy. The industry is heavily regulated by the government, and the landscape seems well established. If we push too hard, we might face significant opposition."
After making an official announcement, the Westeros Company had already completed its first round of selling shares in Danelys Entertainment. Similar operations would follow in the future.
The billions of dollars recovered from these transactions would need to be reinvested.
Healthcare was the new direction Simon had been considering.
In the United States, what industry was the most profitable? Many people might first think of defense or finance.
In reality, it was healthcare.
The exorbitant costs of medical care in the United States were world-famous. The phrase "a minor cold costing thousands" may sound like a joke, but in the U.S., it was the truth—even for a simple doctor's visit, not just at elite clinics.
At its peak, healthcare spending in the U.S. accounted for 20% of GDP. By comparison, defense spending was less than 5% of GDP, highlighting the immense profits hidden within the healthcare sector.
If the Westeros system were to continue expanding, and expanding significantly, the next step—entering healthcare—seemed almost inevitable.
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