"Man of Steel" Proves Its Box Office Mettle

Haven't seen it yet (plan for this week), but clearly the folks at Warner Bros. are breathing a sigh of release that this Superman soared - as this LA Times (via the Gleaner) report makes the point.

Man of Steel leaped over box office expectations in a single weekend.

The Warner Bros superhero film earned US$113m in its opening weekend at the box office, according to studio estimates yesterday. The retelling of Superman's backstory earned an additional US$12m from last Thursday's screenings, bringing its domestic total to US$125m. Original expectations for Man of Steel ranged from US$75m to US$130m.

"They finally got the Superman formula right," said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com. "Superhero movies really are the bread and butter of the summer box office. The fact thatIron Man 3 has the biggest opening of the year so far and Man of Steel has the second biggest opening of the year just proves that."

Man of Steel, which stars British actor Henry Cavill as Superman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane, also toppled the record for biggest opening in June. It was previously held by the Disney-Pixar film Toy Story 3, which banked US$110m when it opened in 2010. Superman Returns, the previous Superman film which starred Brandon Routh in the title role, launched with a respectable US$52.5m in 2006.

Sony's This Is the End opened in second place behind Man of Steelwith US$20.5m in its opening weekend. The comedy, starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill and Craig Robinson as versions of themselves trapped in a mansion during the apocalypse, opened Wednesday, earning a domestic total of US$32.8m. The film cost just US$32m to produce.

OUTSTANDING FLICK

"We knew we were going to have competition, but we felt our movie stood on its own and had its own voice," said Rory Bruer, Sony's president of worldwide distribution. "I believe we've absolutely proven that. To have this amount of money in the bank with its cost of production, good reviews and word of mouth really puts our feet on solid ground."

In its third weekend at the box office, the Lionsgate illusionist heist filmNow You See Me fleeced US$10.3m in third place, bringing its total domestic haul to US$80m. Universal's Fast & Furious 6 arrived in fourth place, with US$9.4m, while the studio's invasion horror film The Purge, starring Ethan Hawke, scared up US$8.2m in the fifth spot.

The super openings of Man of Steel and This Is the End helped to lift the box office 50 per cent over last year, when Madagascar 3 andPrometheus held on to the top spots. Man of Steel will face off against stiff competition next week, when Paramount's zombie thriller World War Z and the Disney-Pixar's prequel Monster's University both debut.

These are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through yesterday at United States and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com.

1. Man of Steel, US$113m

2. This Is the End, US$20.5m

3. Now You See Me, US$10.3m

4. Fast & Furious 6, US$9.4m

5. The Purge, US$8.2m

6. The Internship, US$7m

7. Epic, US$6m

8. Star Trek: Into Darkness, US$5.6m

9. After Earth, US$3.7m

10. Iron Man 3, US$2.9m

Yogi Bear and more, from Facebook

Warner Bros. has recently started delivering movies through Facebook at a price of $3 per title, starting out with Cristopher Nolan’s Dark Knight.

Now, the company made available five additional titles: Inception, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Yogi Bear and Life as We Know It.

These new titles are available through each film’s official Facebook Page. To rent a movie, users need to click on the “watch now” icon, pay with their Facebook Credits, and they will get a 48-hour window to watch the movie through their Facebook account.

There’s no official word on any upcoming titles, but we’re sure that Warner will be adding this functionality to the movies in its catalog which have a significant Facebook following. Again, all of this is available only to consumers in the U.S.

Still Wild About Harry: "Deathly Hallows" opens big

Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

The Potter Trio: From left, actors Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, and Rupert Grint.

The first part of the two-part finale to the long-running Warner Bros. film series took in $125.12 million at the domestic box office, according to early estimates from Hollywood.com. Final numbers are due out on Monday.
“These numbers on ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1′ prove that even a decade into the franchise, ‘Potter’ is as relevant and compelling today as it was back in 2001,” Paul Dergarabedian, president of the box-office division of Hollywood.com, said in an email.
The animated film “Megamind” (Paramount/DreamWorks Animation) took the second slot with $16.2 million; “Unstoppable” (Fox), an action-drama with Denzel Washington, placed third with $13.1.
The starting numbers for “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1″ represent the best-ever opening weekend for the franchise.
The new “Potter” movie had enjoyed a mostly positive reception from critics. The next and final installment of the series, due out in the summer of 2011, is scheduled to be in 3-D, which could add to its box office totals.