Los Angeles, March 28 (IANS): Zack Snyder-directed superhero film "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice," is expected to rake in $170 million in projected sales on the Easter weekend and ranked at the first place in North America box office.

"Batman v. Superman," which debuted on Friday, starring Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, is also Warner Bros. biggest ever superhero weekend opening, Xinhua news agency reported.

Audiences were eager to see the battle between Batman and Superman, which helped the movie get the largest Easter opening, beating 2015's Easter film debut "Furious 7," which garnered $147.2 million in ticket sales.

"Zootopia," last weekend's champion, slid to the second place for getting $23.1 million in ticket earnings, and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2" opened at the third, with $18.1 million in ticket sales, according to estimations by the studios and collated by comScore.

"Miracles From Heaven" and "The Divergent Series: Allegiant" tied at the fourth place, with $9.5 million in earnings each.

"This year, Hollywood received a giant Easter basket full of cash," reckoned comScore movie industry analyst Paul Dergarabedian, who was quoted by the media reports as saying.