'Man of Steel' won the weekend, but how much did it make?
It should come as no surprise that Man of Steel took the top spot at the weekend box office. After all, it was easily the most hyped movie of 2013. Add to that a Father's Day weekend opening for a Superman movie and well, you've got a recipe for a crazy good take.
Zack Snyder and Warner Bros. are surely thrilled with the fact that Man of Steel made, in its debut weekend, a whopping $128.7 million. Now, this does include special WalMart screenings on Thursday night, but still, that's incredible. Even without Thursday, Man of Steel still managed to take in nearly $117 million.
Again, the fact that Man of Steel was number one is not in any way surprising, and to me, the earnings seem about right. Worldwide, the money just keeps piling up, because all total, Man of Steel's made more than $200 million worldwide. I'd call that a huge summer blockbuster, wouldn't you?
So much for the critics who panned the film. Apparently, nobody gave a rip what they thought. Man of Steel just snagged the record for the biggest-ever June opening, and the second best opening of the year. What was number one? Iron Man 3, with a mind-blowing $174 million.
Now here's the thing: I've already weighed in with my snap review of Man of Steel (Spoiler: I liked it) but I really hoped I'd get to catch the weekend's number two film, This Is The End. Alas, I could only squeeze one movie in over two days - I'm slacking, I know - but if and when I finally get my posterior into a theater seat to see the comedy, I'll review it.
As for the numbers, This Is The End debuted very strong, taking in nearly $20.7 million over the weekend. Has anybody seen this movie yet? I'm literally being bombarded now by friends telling me to go and go "right now" to see it because it's so funny. This kind of word of mouth leads me to believe that This Is The End will keep performing strongly in the weeks to come, even with heavy competition from Man of Steel and some of the upcoming debuts (World War Z and Monsters University).
As for the rest of the top five, Now You See Me keeps rolling along, taking in $11 million for third place, Fast & Furious 6 was fourth with $9.6 million and last week's number one movie, The Purge, took a nose dive into fifth place ($8.3 million).
I don't know about you guys, but I couldn't be happier with movies right now. From comedies to big budget action thrillers to Pixar's latest, everyone should be able to find something they want to see at their local theater. My only big regret at the moment: Our theater is still not showing Before Midnight. I suppose with all the other options right now, I can be patient.
Photo courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter