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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.

Daily Domestic Gross Mon, Jan. 17 2011

Wide (1000+)

#TitleMon, Jan. 17 2011LocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1The Green Hornet$6,485,667-34%3,584--$1,810$40,012,5431Sony / Columbia
2The Dilemma$2,704,800-44%2,940--$920$20,521,0301Universal
3True Grit (2010)$2,122,704-33%3,459335$614$128,339,3544Paramount
4The King's Speech$2,084,963-28%1,543785$1,351$46,795,0258Weinstein Company
5Yogi Bear$2,081,79710%2,702-586$770$84,197,4165Warner Bros.
6Black Swan$1,809,114-32%2,328744$777$75,020,1207Fox Searchlight
7Tangled$1,655,64720%2,048-335$808$182,666,6958Disney
8TRON: Legacy$1,579,096-16%2,439-574$647$158,497,5505Disney
9Little Fockers$1,340,630-37%3,394-281$395$135,621,5204Universal
10The Fighter$1,280,957-14%2,414-114$531$67,026,7616Paramount
11Gulliver's Travels (2010)$943,70926%1,666-1298$566$38,590,7234Fox
12Season of the Witch$809,458-44%2,82711$286$18,913,7822Relativity Media
13The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader$796,7931%1,704-1110$468$98,863,9226Fox
14Country Strong$698,874-36%1,4240$491$13,986,3834Sony / Screen Gems
15The Tourist$303,000-37%1,420-1022$213$64,562,6556Sony / Columbia

Limited (100 — 999)

#TitleMon, Jan. 17 2011LocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1$349,873-26%941-566$372$290,153,3459Warner Bros.
2Blue Valentine (2010)$314,974-25%230190$1,369$3,162,2353Weinstein Company
3Megamind$244,13211%341-34$716$145,660,74011Paramount / DreamWorks
4The Social Network$126,36917%322-281$392$94,828,51816Sony / Columbia
5The Heart Specialist$108,454-14%422--$257$581,5161Freestyle
6Burlesque$74,045-17%295--$251$38,707,0628Sony / Screen Gems
7How Do You Know$70,076-37%615-1287$114$30,010,3325Sony / Columbia
8Due Date$59,248-44%34197$174$100,123,88711Warner Bros.
9Rabbit Hole$53,851-33%10066$539$1,011,9675Lionsgate
10Unstoppable (2010)$52,186-30%303-95$172$80,444,28910Fox
11Red (2010)$33,023-19%206-55$160$90,098,35514Summit
12Secretariat$30,579--136--$225$59,465,20315Disney
13Love and Other Drugs$28,876-38%166-46$174$31,999,1548Fox
14Despicable Me$24,6606%137-41$180$251,501,64528Universal
15Life As We Know It$16,966-38%132-56$129$53,290,32715Warner Bros.
16Morning Glory (2010)$11,215-25%127-51$88$30,993,54410Paramount
17For Colored Girls$7,089-28%11190$64$37,721,94911Lionsgate

Platform (1 — 99)

#TitleMon, Jan. 17 2011LocationsAvg.TotalWks.Dist.
1Yamla Pagla Deewana$58,926--84--$702$563,0421Eros International
2Somewhere (2010)$50,360-33%5336$950$1,033,2904Focus
3Hubble 3D$45,6581%48--$951$20,653,49544Warner Bros. / IMAX
4127 Hours$33,115-35%76-12$436$11,124,11911Fox Searchlight
5I Love You Phillip Morris$27,042-37%95-5$285$1,686,0747Roadside Attractions
6Casino Jack$26,450--60--$441$637,7445IDP/ATO Pictures
7No One Killed Jessica$12,783-63%45-3$284$385,1402UTV Communications
8Faster (2010)$7,393-51%77-2$96$23,008,5998CBS Films
9Fair Game (2010)$6,603-45%79-24$84$9,327,43611Summit
10All Good Things$6,064--29--$209$428,4587Magnolia Pictures
11Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole$5,26315%41-54$128$55,673,33317Warner Bros.
12The Warrior's Way$4,798-46%7745$62$5,641,4537Relativity Media
13Phil Ochs: There But For Fortune$3,157--1--$3,157$53,1152First Run Features
14Jackass 3D$2,264-53%22-48$103$117,224,27114Paramount
15Paranormal Activity 2$2,157-52%40-50$54$84,749,88413Paramount
16Winter's Bone$2,049-26%71$293$6,265,23732Roadside Attractions
17Tiny Furniture$1,982--12--$165$337,14210IFC
18Every Day$1,776-37%3--$592$11,6331Image Entertainment
19Battleship Potemkin (2011 re-issue)$1,764--1--$1,764$7,4051Kino International
20Four Lions$1,491--13--$115$274,80811Drafthouse Films
21Ong Bak 3$1,446--3--$482$7,0941Magnolia
22The Tempest$1,374--5--$275$251,1716Disney
23Marwencol$1,307--6--$218$75,76015Cinema Guild
24Summer Wars$1,123-54%9-5$125$54,7554GKIDS
25White Material$1,084--13--$83$288,0979IFC
26Bhutto$1,082--3--$361$59,7047First Run Features
27The Time That Remains$1,063--1--$1,063$14,6962IFC
28The Strange Case of Angelica$823--2--$412$28,5633Cinema Guild
29Kings of Pastry$792--4--$198$296,48418First Run
30A Somewhat Gentle Man$709--1--$709$3,2151Strand Releasing
31Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer$601--5--$120$180,51211Magnolia
32Carlos$500--3--$167$145,11814IFC
33Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench$239--0----$24,31011Variance Films
34Feed the Fish$229--3--$76$96,9179Strand
35Plastic Planet$149--1--$149$8891First Run Features
36Dogtooth (Kynodontas)$134--1--$134$90,84130Kino International
37Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould$106--3--$35$163,45719Lorber
38Night Catches Us$65--3--$22$61,7847Magnolia
39Red Hill$62--1--$62$20,96011Strand
40Tees Maar Khan$58-59%4-34$15$1,076,3244UTV Communications