'Man of Steel' Passes $150 Million; 'Iron Man 3' Passes $400 MillionJune 19, 2013 11:36 AM

by Daniel Garris

Warner's Man of Steel continued to dominate the daily box office on Tuesday with a first place take of $11.51 million. In the process, the blockbuster superhero franchise re-launch surpassed the $150 million mark yesterday. Man of Steel did fall 9 percent from Monday. While that represented the day's poorest daily hold among wide releases, the percentage hold was quite understandable given the size of the film's grosses and the competition the film (and the rest of the marketplace) faced from Game 6 of the NBA Finals. With $152.78 million through Tuesday, Man of Steel continues to perform far stronger than 2006's Superman Returns, which grossed $108.09 million through its first Tuesday (its seventh day of release). Man of Steel is currently running 23 percent behind the $198.04 million five-day start of last year's The Dark Knight Rises, a comparison which strongly suggests that Man of Steel won't have a problem surpassing the $300 million domestic mark.

In other box office news, fellow superhero film Iron Man 3 surpassed the $400 million domestic mark on Tuesday after taking in $368,605 for the day. The blockbuster superhero sequel from Disney and Marvel reached the milestone in 47 days. Iron Man 3 has grossed $400.35 million to date, which currently ranks the film in 17th place on the all-time unadjusted domestic chart.

This Is The End held up well once again on Tuesday with a second place take of $3.36 million. Sony's modestly budgeted ensemble R-rated comedy was down a slim 2 percent from Monday. In comparison, 2008's Pineapple Express fell 15 percent on its first Tuesday to gross $3.28 million. With a one-week start of $39.80 million, This Is The End is running 18 percent behind the $48.45 million one-week start of Pineapple Express and continues to make up ground in the comparison as days go by.