Calling Bv S's reviews mixed is an overstatement. The film has a 27% on RT with an average rating of 4.9; broadly speaking it got critically panned, and the chilly reception from general audiences was likely a big part of why the film didn't have legs at the box office.
And anyways it wasn't just Bv S, Suicide Squad had even more scathing reviews in general and audience reception was also generally the same, which stung even more because people were excited since it was a different director who they thought might not have many of Snyder's problems.
Wonder Woman was an exception for a number of reasons, people were excited that WB finally produced a film most people could agree was solid, and the good reviews (and more importantly) positive word of mouth allowed it to be successful.
That goodwill wasn't necessarily going to be carried over to Justice League though because people were still wary. I don't think that people pay enough attention to the behind-the-scenes stuff for that matter very much, however I think most people will know who the director is and when they see it's the same director as Mo S and Bv S (a divisive movie and a generally disliked movie) that gives them trepidation. If JL had gotten positive reviews that probably would have made a difference but they're only just barely better than Bv S's and Suicide Squad.
Wonder Woman was also a semi-sleeper hit. Its opening weekend gross of $103 million is only slightly higher than the $96 million for Justice League; a small enough difference that you could consider their openings essentially the same, within a margin of error. Wonder Woman became such a huge success because it had surprising staying power, continuing to draw in large crowds for much longer than modern blockbusters usually manage. Only 25% of Wonder Woman's domestic gross came from its opening weekend, as opposed to 50% for Batman v. Superman.
edited 20th Nov '17 9:38:49 AM by RavenWilder
Wonder Woman was the first warning sign. That it took a while to gain traction showed how weary the audience were of the DCEU in general. I am not even sure if Justice League would have had a chance if it had been good, due to it being the direct sequel of Batman vs Superman.
Just so we're clear, a $100 million opening weekend is almost never considered bad. It's only such a letdown in this case because a) it's worse than the previous movies in the franchise did, suggesting a downward trend, and b) the fact that the film's budget went totally out of control.
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
And c) because it is way under expectations, which had already been considerably adjusted down.
I'm saying it was a culmination of everything. Wonder Woman beat tracking expectations by 20-30%, and that's in part due to good press and good reviews. Justice League was a meat grinder.
Love it when a superhero movie tanks. Love it!
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
Okay?
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
The Head of the Hydra
On the bright side the Black Panther movie is sure to make a killing.
Yup ya can't keep superhero movies down. 
I really hope Black Panther is good.
I want geeks all over sucking in the predominantly black cast and not caring.
Disliking a genre is fine. There are plenty of valid criticisms that can be made about superhero films, so I don't begrudge people disliking them.
The thing is though, you don't have to watch any of them if you don't want to. Even in the current Hollywood, with all its focus on overfranchising, sequels, reboots, etc there are still multiple good films that get released each and every year that aren't superhero movies. It just seems unnecessarily spiteful to me to want something other people like to fail just because you don't personally enjoy it.
You kind of do have to watch them, though. Fewer and fewer movies are made these days because all Hollywood makes is superhero movies. Logically, if more superhero movies fail, if Hollywood studios make turds like Justice League and get creamed at the box office, we will see more films for a general audience.
The Head of the Hydra
Superhero movies are for a general audience though.
Besides the big money-makers the MCU still hasn't made a flop yet so super-heroes are gonna be going on strong for a while.
edited 20th Nov '17 7:46:40 PM by slimcoder
"I am Alpharius. This is a lie."
Generally, no more than half of a year's top ten grossing movies will be superhero movies, and they become the #1 of their year surprisingly rarely. I can't help but wonder what you want to see take their place, because there's plenty of variety out there.
edited 20th Nov '17 7:47:36 PM by IniuriaTalis
Except you don't? I've barely watched any Marvel movie since Winter Soldier because I just haven't been interested enough to do so. Maybe you could argue that it gets tiresome to see all the advertising for them or whatever, but that's about it.
It's also not really true that superhero films are all Hollywood makes anymore, there's always interesting, thoughtful or at least enjoyable non-superhero films released every year. Just last year we had Moonlight, Arrival, Loving, Creed, Anomalisa, The Witch, The Hateful Eight, Split, and many more.
This year we've already had Get Out, Dunkirk, Baby Driver, The Big Sick, The Shape of Water, John Wick Chapter Two, Murder on The Orient Express, etc.
Do note I am just bringing up a handful of examples, "best of" lists for both years talk about many films i'd never even heard of or seen until now. Every year I'm never left wanting for interesting films, just because superhero films are the most visible doesn't mean they're all that gets made.
People go see superhero films because they enjoy them. They won't necessarily watch films of other genres if they aren't interested in them, even if superhero films stop being profitable.
edited 20th Nov '17 9:17:21 PM by Draghinazzo
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
Maybe just don't come in here to shit on an entire genre people like in favor of "real films" being made.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
Where's "here"? The Box Office Thread? It's not unique to note that there is a glut of superhero films, and that standalone films dedicated to general adult audiences are a dying form.
Oh come on, now you're just being obtuse.
You also ignored all the other points I made too, and are just basically reiterating your point without actually addressing anything. This isn't what a good faith discussion looks like.
edited 20th Nov '17 9:10:34 PM by Draghinazzo
I'm going to ask again, what do you want to see more of that superheroes are supposedly pushing out?
Rock on, Gold Dust Woman
It is unique to barge into a thread, shit on a genre, and then debate without any good faith. And by unique I mean bad. Cut it out.
Have you any dreams you'd like to sell?
You forgot to add War For The Planet Of The Apes and Blade Runner 2019 as part of great movies that came out this year.
Oh, I just looooove those people who keep complaining about around 10 of the movies which are made each year being Superhero related. And about the lack of original stories. Which is especially idiotic regarding Justice League, because at the same weekend "Wonder" hit the theatres (and, btw, made back more than its budget on the first weekend by making nearly triple of what was expected - perhaps partly due to the excellent reviews the movie got). But then, maybe "Wonder" isn't original enough...it's after all based on a book. So how about going next weekend? Coco is an original Pixar movie.
The funny thing is that the people who complain the loudest about the lack of original movies seemed to be woefully uninformed about the original movies which are released every...singly...weekend.
Okay let's have this conversation somewhere else.