Superman leaped the box office in a single bound, as Man Of Steel surpassed expectations by a mile.
The new Superman flick ranked in a staggering $113 million over the weekend, beating out Seth Rogen’s comedy, This Is The End, which came in at a distant second.
Man of Steel also nabbed the record for June’s biggest opening away from Toy Story 3, the Disney-Pixar film that banked $110.3 million when it opened in 2010. Superman Returns, the previous Superman film launched with $52.5 million in 2006. Directed by Zack Snyder, the new film stars Henry Cavill as Superman and Amy Adams as Lois Lane — Superman must save Earth, when it’s invaded by members of his race.
“They finally got the Superman formula right,” aul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com, told the Associated Press. “Superhero movies really are the bread and butter of the summer box office. The fact that ‘Iron 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.”
Sony’s apocalyptic comedy, This Is the End, debuted in second place with $20.5 million in its opening weekend. The comedy starring Seth Rogen, James Franco and Jonah Hill as versions of themselves trapped in a mansion during the apocalypse. The film reportedly cost just $32 million to produce.
“We knew we were going to have competition, but we felt our movie stood on its own and had its own voice,” Rory Bruer, Sony’s president of worldwide distribution, said to the AP. “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, the Lionsgate illusionist heist film Now You See Me earned another $10.3 million to hold at third place, bringing its total domestic haul to $80 million.
Universal’s Fast & Furious 6 fell to #4 with $9.4 million, while The Purge starring Ethan Hawke scared up $8.2 million in the fifth spot.
This weekend’s top 10 is as follows:
1. “Man of Steel,” $113 million.
2. “This Is the End,” $20.5 million.
3. “Now You See Me,” $10.3 million.
4. “Fast & Furious 6,” $9.4 million.
5. “The Purge,” $8.2 million.
6. “The Internship,” $7 million.
7. “Epic,” $6 million.
8. “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” $5.6 million.
9. “After Earth,” $3.7 million.
10. “Iron Man 3,” $2.9 million.
