Box Office Grosses aren’t the final story for most films… The actual money a studio makes depends on an assortment of factors and costs. Deadline Hollywood has crunched the available numbers and best estimates from Hollywood insiders to determine what kind of profits Batman V. Superman ultimately made after considering all revenue streams for the film itself and subtracting all of the assorted costs.
In the end, the film grossed $873m at the Worldwide box office, of which WB will pocket $367m. (The rest going to the theaters that showed the film.) Additionally, they calculate that the film earned WB another $314m in Home Entertainment and Television Revenue. This brings the film a Total Revenue amount of $681m for the studio.
However, that’s just half the story… there are the costs to subtract. The film carried a Production Cost of $250m, and another $157m was spent on Prints and Advertising. Add in the $46m in Video release costs, and another $122m in assorted Participation Fees to the actors, producers and directors who had a share of the profits, Interest and Overhead costs, and you get a Total Cost amount of $575m.
Deducting that total cost from the total revenue, we find that the film ultimately earned $105m for Warner Bros.
(Check out the full breakdown of the numbers at the source.)
Here’s how that amount would compare with the profits from recent Superhero films calculated by the folks at Deadline:
Iron Man 3 – $391.8m
Avengers Age of Ultron – $382.3m
Guardians of the Galaxy – $204.2m
Big Hero 6 – $187.3m
Captain America: The Winter Soldier – $166.2m
Thor The Dark World – $139.4m
Batman V. Superman – $105m
Ant-Man – $103.9m
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – $81.31m
X-men Days of Future Past – $77.4m
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – $70.4m
Man of Steel – $42.7m
So in the end, Batman V. Superman just edged out Marvel’s Ant-Man, and earned less for its studio than Thor: The Dark World. Suicide Squad is sure to show up in Deadline’s tournament and hasn’t yet, suggesting that it was ultimately more profitable for Warner Bros. than Snyder’s epic vs. film. How much more, and where will the other Super-hero film of 2016 come in? We’ll have to wait and see… comicbookmovie.com