As the first big blockbuster of 2016, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” should see success in theaters worldwide. Initial estimates suggest that the Zack Snyder movie could take between $300M and $340M globally on its opening weekend (March 23-27, 2016, out March 25 in the USA). Such impressive grosses would bag the movie a place among the top 20 most successful opening weekends of all time.

If the film matches its predicted box-office grosses, it’ll be lining up alongside “Transformers: Age of Extinction,” “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1,” “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2.” These five movies all went on to enjoy high-level success, with total grosses of between $830M and $1.1 billion at the global box office.

“Batman v Superman” would, however, lag behind 2015 hits like “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” “Jurassic World” and “Furious 7.” The latest “Star Wars” movie took a record $529M on its first weekend, placing it ahead of “Jurassic World” ($524.9m) and “Furious 7” ($397.7m).

The comic book clash between Ben Affleck and Henry Cavill would also fall short of matching the opening weekend success of certain other superhero movies, like “The Avengers,” with parts one and two both taking $392.5m. “Spider-Man 3” and “Iron Man 3” would hold on to their places in the ranking too, with $381.7m and $372.5m.

“Batman v Superman” up against “Captain America,” “X-Men” and “Rogue One”

“Dawn of Justice” has all the right ingredients to clean up at the global box office and become one of the year’s hit movies. Produced by Christopher Nolan, the film has an all-star cast, including Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Jesse Eisenberg, Gal Gadot, Amy Adams, Jeremy Irons, Laurence Fishburne, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Holly Hunter, Michael Shannon and Jason Momoa.

However, it’ll face tough competition from other eagerly awaited blockbusters, including superhero movies “Captain America: Civil War” and “X-Men: Apocalypse,” scheduled for release in April and May. Disney could once again bag the year’s box-office top spots thanks to several hotly anticipated films out this year, such as “Star Wars” spin-off “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” landing in December, and sequels “Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass” (US release, May 27) and “Finding Dory” (US release, June 17). Twentieth Century Fox could also hit hard with “Independence Day: Resurgence,” Roland Emmerich’s sequel to his original blockbuster, which notched up record box-office grosses of $816.9m in 1996.

– AFP Relaxnews

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‘Batman vs Superman’ on track for 2016 box office success

The clash between Gotham City's caped crusader and the Metropolis man of steel could set sparks flying at the international box office when "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" comes up for release in March.