'Man of Steel' Strong on Monday with $12.59 MillionJune 18, 2013 11:34 AM

by Daniel Garris

Warner's Man of Steel continued to lead the box office with ease on Monday with a daily take of $12.59 million. The blockbuster superhero franchise re-launch was down 65 percent from Sunday. That represented a significant daily decline, but the decline was quite understandable given the film's exceptional daily hold on Father's Day. Man of Steel has grossed a strong $141.27 million through Monday. That represents a far better start than that of 2006's Superman Returns, which grossed $97.58 million through its first Monday (its sixth day of release). Man of Steel is running 22 percent behind the $180.28 million four-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.

This Is The End held up very nicely on Monday with a second place take of $3.42 million. Sony's modestly budgeted ensemble R-rated comedy was down just 45 percent from Sunday. R-rated comedies typically have strong Monday holds (especially in the summer months), but Monday's daily hold for This Is The End was a strong one even with that in mind. In comparison, 2008's Pineapple Express fell 50 percent on its first Monday to gross $3.85 million. With a six-day take of $36.45 million, This Is The End is running 19 percent behind the $45.17 million six-day take of Pineapple Express. With the aid of good word of mouth, This Is The End will hope to continue to make up ground on Pineapple Express going forward.

Lionsgate's Now You See Me claimed third place with $1.49 million. The surprise hit ensemble thriller fell 59 percent from Sunday and 38 percent from last Monday. Thanks in part to strong word of mouth driven holding power, Now You See Me has grossed $82.19 million through 18 days of release. That leaves the film just $17.81 million away from reaching the $100 million domestic milestone.

Universal releases The Purge and Fast & Furious 6 claimed fourth and fifth places respectively with $1.18 million and $1.08 million. The Purge was down just 47 percent from Sunday, while Fast & Furious 6 was down 65 percent. Respective total grosses stand at $220.80 million for Fast & Furious 6 in 25 days and at $53.14 million for The Purge in eleven days.

A24's The Bling Ring continued to post big grosses in its platform start in New York and Los Angeles. The Sofia Coppola directed film grossed $37,016 for the day from 5 locations. That gave the film a daily per-location average of $7,403 and was down only 44 percent from Sunday. The Bling Ring has grossed $251,411 in four days and will receive a major expansion on Friday.