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Grosses

'Man of Steel' Sets New June Opening Weekend Record with $116.6 MillionJune 17, 2013 11:45 AM

by Daniel Garris

Warner's Man of Steel took in a strong $116.62 million this weekend. That figure doesn't include the $12.06 million the film grossed from Thursday night 7 p.m. shows from the corporate group sale screening program with Walmart, as Warner Bros. is officially reporting those grosses separate from the film's opening weekend performance. When including those grosses, Man of Steel was off to a $128.68 million start. With or without the $12.06 million, Man of Steel established a new unadjusted opening weekend record for the month of June, as it topped the $110.31 million opening weekend take of previous record holder Toy Story 3.

The opening weekend take of Man of Steel was the second largest of 2013 thus far (behind only the $174.14 million start of Iron Man 3). Of great importance for Warner Bros. is that the start of Man of Steel represents a vast improvement over the start of 2006's Superman Returns, which had a far more modest opening weekend take of $52.54 million and a five-day start of $84.59 million (that film opened on a Wednesday).

Without the $12.06 million from corporate screenings, Man of Steel grossed $44.01 million on Friday. The film fell a very reasonable 17.5 percent on Saturday to gross $36.32 million (which was up an impressive 4 percent from Friday when factoring out midnight grosses). With aid from the Father's Day holiday, Man of Steel then exceeded expectations on Sunday with a $36.29 million take, which was essentially unchanged from Saturday's performance. The opening weekend to Friday ratio for Man of Steel was 2.65 to 1.

In addition to a strong marketing campaign, there is no doubt that the involvement of Christopher Nolan with the film as a writer and producer helped build up excitement for Man of Steel. The film was also helped out by grosses from IMAX and 3D engagements; IMAX grosses were an estimated $13.3 million this weekend, while 41 percent of the film's overall grosses came from 3D shows. Man of Steel received an A- rating on CinemaScore, which is an encouraging early sign as the film goes forward in its run.

Sony's This Is The End claimed second place this weekend with $20.72 million. The ensemble R-rated comedy has now grossed $33.03 million in its first five days of release. This Is The End opened in line with the lower end of expectations and was off to a very solid start when taking into account its modest price tag for a high profile summer release. In comparison, 2008's Pineapple Express grossed $23.25 million during its opening weekend and $41.32 million in its first five days of release.

While This Is The End is currently running 20 percent behind the five-day start of Pineapple Express, it is displaying stronger holding power in its initial days of release, as its five-day to opening weekend ratio of 1.59 to 1 came in notably below the 1.78 to 1 ratio of This Is The End. That is an encouraging sign for the film going forward, as is the film's B+ rating on CinemaScore. With that said, generating truly exceptional holding power may be easier said than done given the amount of high profile releases that will continue to enter the marketplace over the next few weeks now that the summer season is into full gear.

This Is The End grossed $6.95 million on Friday, increased 9 percent on Saturday to gross $7.58 million and fell 18 percent on Sunday to take in $6.19 million. The audience breakdown for the film skewed towards male moviegoers (60 percent) and slightly towards moviegoers over 25 (52 percent).

With Man of Steel dominating the marketplace this weekend, it came as no surprise that holdovers in general took significant hits (and that is with Father's Day boosting grosses in general on Sunday). The weekend's most impressive holdover among wide releases, both in ranking and percentage hold was Lionsgate's Now You See Me. The crowd pleasing ensemble thriller placed in third with $11.02 million. That was down 42 percent from last weekend and brings the 17-day total for Now You See Me to $80.71 million. The surprise hit of early summer is now $19.29 million away from reaching the $100 million domestic milestone.

Not holding up anywhere near as well this weekend was Universal's The Purge. After an exceptionally strong first place debut last weekend, the ultra-low budget sci-fi thriller was down four spots and a massive 76 percent this weekend to place in fifth with $8.32 million. That placed The Purge behind fellow Universal release Fast & Furious 6 in this weekend's rankings. Fast & Furious 6 fell 51 percent to gross $9.58 million. To date, Fast & Furious 6 has grossed $219.72 million in 24 days. Despite displaying very poor holding power so far, The Purge has still grossed a strong $51.96 million in ten days thanks largely to its opening weekend performance.

Fox's The Internship didn't hold up very well this weekend either. On the heels of last weekend's so-so start, the PG-13 rated comedy starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn fell 59 percent and two spots this weekend to claim sixth with $7.15 million. In addition to having to deal with the rush out of moviegoers to Man of Steel, there is no doubt that The Internship has taken a direct hit from This Is The End since Wednesday. The ten-day start for The Internship stands at an underwhelming $31.09 million.

On the limited front, films had a tough time expanding in the shadow of Man of Steel. Sony Pictures Classics' Before Midnight took in $1.38 million this weekend from 897 locations. While that was up 163 percent over last weekend, the Richard Linklater directed film only managed a per-location average of $1,541 this weekend. Meanwhile, Roadside's Much Ado About Nothing grossed $161,625 from 23 locations. That gave the Joss Whedon directed film a per-location average of $7,027 for the frame, but was down 6 percent from last weekend's start in 5 locations.

A24's The Bling Ring fared significantly better this weekend with a debut of $212,537 from 5 locations in New York and Los Angeles. The Sofia Coppola directed film earned an impressive per-location average of $42,507. The Bling Ring will receive a major expansion on Friday.

Also off to a noteworthy platform start in New York and Los Angeles was RADiUS-TWC's 20 Feet from Stardom. The music documentary grossed $54,596 from 3 locations, giving it a healthy per-location average of $18,199.

Weekend Actuals (Domestic) Fri, Jan. 4 - Sun, Jan. 6

Wide (1000+)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Texas Chainsaw 3D$21,744,470--2,654--$8,193$21,744,4701Lionsgate
2Django Unchained$20,010,745-34%3,0100$6,648$106,280,1222Weinstein Company
3The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey$17,545,386-45%3,755-345$4,673$263,834,8934Warner Bros. / New Line
4Les Miserables (2012)$16,015,560-41%2,90490$5,515$103,503,0402Universal
5Parental Guidance$9,704,619-33%3,3681$2,881$52,339,6982Fox
6Jack Reacher$9,192,873-32%3,288-64$2,796$64,697,2143Paramount
7This is 40$8,353,350-33%2,93117$2,850$54,255,1953Universal
8Lincoln$5,413,827-26%1,901-65$2,848$144,089,0469Disney / DreamWorks
9The Guilt Trip$4,434,948-32%2,312-119$1,918$31,111,8823Paramount
10Promised Land (2012)$4,049,9112229%1,6761651$2,416$4,395,4392Focus
11Monsters, Inc. 3D$3,987,905-38%2,103-515$1,896$27,981,5543Disney
12Skyfall$3,074,796-32%1,307-330$2,353$296,804,3669Sony / Columbia
13Rise of The Guardians$2,675,583-45%1,507-548$1,775$97,227,6677Paramount / DreamWorks

Limited (100 — 999)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Silver Linings Playbook$3,616,710-11%7450$4,855$34,676,7698Weinstein Company
2Life of Pi$2,813,392-26%965-213$2,915$91,039,4887Fox
3The Impossible$2,755,3841409%572557$4,817$3,412,4133Lionsgate / Summit
4The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2$1,377,070-42%825-366$1,669$289,133,3568Lionsgate / Summit
5Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away$1,285,432-46%817-23$1,573$10,878,3623Paramount
6Wreck-It Ralph$1,181,724-36%709-204$1,667$178,501,64010Disney
7Hyde Park on Hudson$1,031,282140%222138$4,645$3,209,8855Focus
8Argo$789,221-21%302-43$2,613$110,106,91913Warner Bros.
9Hotel Transylvania$465,684-17%267-34$1,744$146,172,36115Sony / Columbia
10Anna Karenina (2012)$364,154-31%163-55$2,234$11,537,7638Focus
11Here Comes the Boom$281,636-15%243-9$1,159$44,101,00213Sony / Columbia
12Not Fade Away$270,088393%565546$478$416,8863Paramount Vantage
13Flight$254,309-42%250-150$1,017$92,488,36610Paramount
14Taken 2$207,796-15%213-19$976$139,284,76414Fox
15Red Dawn (2012)$181,273-54%252-173$719$43,877,0437FilmDistrict
16Hitchcock$151,518-60%118-231$1,284$5,488,8967Fox Searchlight
17Pitch Perfect$128,755-19%165-18$780$64,655,85815Universal
18Frankenweenie$114,779-13%144-34$797$34,933,73314Disney
19Cloud Atlas$102,553282%155110$662$26,903,24211Warner Bros.
20Dabangg 2$77,602-76%1660$467$2,474,6743Eros International
21End of Watch$67,107-27%140-22$479$40,891,82016Open Road
22Playing For Keeps (2012)$53,134-58%139-129$382$12,851,5975FilmDistrict

Platform (1 — 99)

#TitleweekendLocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Zero Dark Thirty$2,696,006752%6055$44,933$4,406,1383Sony / Columbia
2Rust and Bone$163,89938%3913$4,203$866,0167Sony Pictures Classics
3The Perks of Being A Wallflower$80,738-13%98-27$824$17,479,02816Lionsgate / Summit
4To the Arctic 3D$75,098-41%520$1,444$10,660,22338Warner Bros. / IMAX
5Amour$59,832-4%30$19,944$340,7983Sony Pictures Classics
6The Sessions$57,033-23%41-39$1,391$5,632,02412Fox Searchlight
7Killing Them Softly$41,157-5%51-17$807$14,904,9816Weinstein Company
8A Late Quartet$39,561-28%23-14$1,720$1,356,84310Entertainment One / RKO
9Hubble 3D$37,463-73%131$2,882$35,828,377147Warner Bros. / IMAX
10Ice Age: Continental Drift$35,120-15%53-9$663$161,204,08226Fox
11Born to Be Wild 3D$31,665-34%300$1,056$21,692,01792Warner Bros. / IMAX
12Table No. 21$31,658--23--$1,376$31,6581Eros International
13Finding Nemo 3D$28,161-25%30-6$939$41,097,80417Disney
14Searching For Sugar Man$26,723-18%26-2$1,028$3,058,66724Sony Pictures Classics
15Space Station 3D$23,859--2--$11,930$86,932,006560IMAX
1656 Up$22,088--1--$22,088$22,0881First Run Features
17On the Road$21,223--6--$3,537$139,3633IFC Films
18Chasing Mavericks$20,04310%324$626$5,977,30211Fox
19The Other Son$17,337-19%13-4$1,334$1,199,50811Cohen Media Group
20The Central Park Five$16,435-29%14-2$1,174$273,7477IFC Films
21The Intouchables$15,779-7%110$1,434$13,160,89933Weinstein Company
22A Royal Affair$13,847-34%22-10$629$659,3489Magnolia Pictures
23Samsara$12,290--8--$1,536$2,639,61620Oscilloscope
24Any Day Now$12,09943%90$1,344$129,3914Music Box Films
25The Odd Life of Timothy Green$11,030-47%37-12$298$51,844,31121Disney
26The Master$10,396-23%12-1$866$15,979,86917Weinstein Company
27Brave$7,873-37%26-13$303$237,277,07129Disney
28West of Memphis$7,683-42%4-1$1,921$39,1592Sony Pictures Classics
29Talaash$6,534-57%8-8$817$2,870,3446Reliance Entertainment
30The Flat$6,51582%92$724$467,02212IFC Films
31Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel$5,882--7--$840$963,13816IDP/Samuel Goldwyn
32Under the Sea 3D$5,415-21%41$1,354$32,501,771204Warner Bros. / IMAX
33Tchoupitoulas$4,420--5--$884$10,4315Oscilloscope
34My Worst Nightmare$3,53021%42$883$16,27512Strand Releasing
35Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters$3,185352%20$1,593$33,90210Zeitgeist
36Only the Young$3,100--2--$1,550$7,1385Oscilloscope
37Django (2012 re-issue)$2,795-8%5-2$559$17,1373Rialto Pictures
38A Bottle in the Gaza Sea$2,531--1--$2,531$2,5311Film Movement
39Starlet$2,529102%43$632$82,4249Music Box Films
40A Werewolf Boy$2,475-70%2-1$1,238$338,8766CJ Entertainment
41Arbitrage$2,385-61%4-3$596$7,915,82217Roadside Attractions
42Somewhere Between$1,780280%10$1,780$182,78420Long Shot Factory
43In Another Country$1,580--6--$263$11,2329Kino Lorber
44Brooklyn Castle$1,241-43%20$621$198,66412Producers Distribution Agency
45Deadfall (2012)$1,227-27%5-1$245$63,6385Magnolia Pictures
46The Well-Digger's Daughter$925-19%10$925$384,49325Kino Lorber
47Escape Fire: The Fight To Rescue American Healthcare$642--1--$642$86,81014Roadside Attractions
48A Dark Truth$630--1--$630$6301Magnolia Pictures
49Now, Forager$405-72%10$405$10,89614Argot Pictures
50The Waiting Room$2908%10$290$176,27715International Film Circuit
51Beware of Mr. Baker$284-53%10$284$53,3716SnagFilms
52Citadel$206--1--$206$13,2019Cinedigm
53Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet$200--1--$200$1,2944Kino Lorber
54Smashed$186-79%3-2$62$375,98113Sony Pictures Classics