U.K. Box Office: 'Batman v. Superman' Smashes Superhero Record

Warner Bros.' superhero universe starter defied critics to also claim the year's biggest opening to date.

Mirroring its smash hit results in North America, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice posted record-breaking numbers in its first weekend in U.K. cinemas.

Warner Bros.' big-budget superhero movie, launching the DC Entertainment universe, defied critics to amass $20.7 million, the biggest opening of the year to date (Deadpool bowed to $19.5 million). The numbers also amount to the best ever Friday to Sunday take for a superhero title, but fall short of Avengers and Avengers: Age of Ultron when accounting for previews.

Despite a distinctly mixed bag of reviews in the U.K. press, Batman v. Superman benefited from the long Easter weekend holiday, coupled with some extreme rain showers that battered much of the country. The big question now is how well it holds up.

Going up against the Ben Affleck/Henry Cavill fisticuffs, Disney's Zootropolis (launched in the U.S. as Zootopia) potentially faced a difficult first weekend but managed an impressive bow of $7.5 million, just short of Walt Disney Animation Studios' best opening in the U.K.

After two weeks at the top Kung Fu Panda 3 was pushed down to third by the new arrivals, adding $1.7 million to take its overall earnings to $13.5 million.

The week's only other debut was the belated My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2, which toasted a $1.4 million opening, down on its predecessor's $2.1 million bow a decade earlier. 10 Cloverfield Land rounded out the top five, adding $1.1 million to bring its two-week total to $4.8 million.