2 billion may be far fetched, however comfortable over 1 billion ain't.
1) in around 2008 Will Smith brought in over $600 million each with Hancock and I am
Legend by himself. This is about 700 mill in 2016. Now imagine what he can do with a star studded cast Shibari Steve and Jai Courtney
2) it has a well received Ben Affleck and films that were....well that's where it gets difficult. Maybe the director's cut will redeem BVS with audiences. His Batman will be in this
3) the joker and Harley. Look at how people yearned for Deadpool and the splash he had. Every other day I see Harley Quinns on tinder. People are doing a 180 over Jared Leto too
4) not an 18 and a comedy. Easy to market and with mass appeal. Also can be shown in China. Also Harley can be used to market and appeal to women.
5) a lot of positive buzz surrounding the marketing. Great momentum like Deadpool.
With good reviews I can see this doing a billion easily.
'Over a billion easily' is
very optimistic. I think a lot of people underestimate just how hard it is to hit a billion generally, you need just about everything to come together perfectly unless you're already an established blockbuster franchise with multiple wins under your belt.
Will Smith isn't the draw he once was, I think that is undeniable. Jai Courtney and Shibari Steve are stars, now?
Ben Affleck's Batman might have been generally well received, but it still might prove a toxic association given general viewers will immediately associate SS with BvS, a more often than not heavily disliked film by the GA. Director's cut won't change the public opinion by much, if at all, I don't think.
Joker and Harley are legitimate factors, but I'm not really seeing 'mass appeal', it might be PG-13, but just by name alone, you're pushing away a lot of families that otherwise would've gone to a 'Batman v. Superman' film that sounds like a fun romp as opposed to...yeah, you get the point.
Marketing's a tough one. SS has done well for itself thus far, but Deadpool's entire campaign was lightning in a bottle. It was perfect. But overall, even with all the factors going SS' way, I can maybe see it doing marginally better than Guardians, at best. Guardians had the Marvel name, the immensely positive critical reception, talking animals, etc. SS is coming off a not-so-warmly-received BvS with a darker title and a much darker story.
So yeah. $800 million at best, $600 million at worst.