The Man of Steel is winning the battle against his deadliest foe, superhero fatigue, at the weekend box office. According to Deadline’s early box office figures, Superman is on track to open with $115-20 million at the weekend box office (not far from what we predicted). That would make it the second biggest opening of the summer, behind Lilo & Stitch, and James Gunn’s could be the second (or third) biggest weekend ever, after the $146 million earned by Guardians of the Galaxy 2 and the $116 million made by the third film in the franchise. It also easily beats the last few Marvel movies, opening significantly bigger than Captain America: Brave New World or Thunderbolts.
However, what’s interesting to note is that it’s opening very much in line with Man of Steel, a movie that was deemed a box office disappointment back in 2013. Even worse is the fact that, adjusted for inflation, Man of Steel’s opening is equivalent to about $160 million now. Yet, it can’t be denied that post-COVID, the box office has taken a huge beating, with the kinds of numbers routinely earned by superhero movies in their heyday no longer really on the table for anyone outside of an event like Deadpool and Wolverine. With that in mind, it’s hard to think of Superman’s opening as anything other than a win for Gunn’s new DCU, with it having a decent A-minus CinemaScore. There’s little to no competition for Superman next weekend, so it should have another weekend to make some serious coin before Marvel’s Fantastic Four: First Steps.
As expected, Jurassic World: Rebirth is looking at a hefty fall in second place, losing about 60% of its audience, being on track for a $37 million weekend, while F1 is in third place with $10.7 million and a $133 million total. It should finish in the neighbourhood of $150 million domestically, although business has been much heftier overseas, with it likely to gross $500-600 million total, which is pretty good for a movie that’s destined for streaming.
What are you seeing this weekend? Let us know in the comments!
Goodfellas, A Clockwork Orange, Boogie Nights, Goldfinger, Casablanca, Scarface (83 version), read more Heat, The Guns of Navarone, The Dirty Dozen, Pulp Fiction, Taxi Driver, Blade Runner, any film noir
Movies, LP's, James Bond, true hollywood memoirs, The Bret Easton read more Ellis Podcast, every sixties british pop band, every 80s new wave band - in fact just generally all eighties songs, even the really shit ones, and of course, Tom Friggin' Cruise!
