Warners is reporting Superman this morning at a $122M opening, but this Man of Steel is higher per rivals in the $124M-$125M range. Splitting the difference is $123M. Saturday per Warner Bros and as we told was $37.7M, -33%, for the James Gunn directed movie.
Warners believes Sunday is -25% from Saturday with $28.2M while rivals believe that there’s an even bluer sky for Kal-El around $30M.
Warner Bros execs have every reason to be doing the Krypto doggie dance this morning as it’s the studio’s second $100M-plus opening this year after A Minecraft Movie ($162M). Technically, Warners owns the No. 1 and No. 3 biggest openings of the year currently. Warners owns six No. 1 openings YTD. It’s also DC Studios co-head Peter Safran’s biggest opening ever at the box office (ahead of Aquaman‘s $67.8M), the second-best opening for a Superman movie overall behind Batman v. Superman ($166M), the best opening for a Superman first franchise installment ahead of Man of Steel ($116.6M reported 3-day), and the second best opening, as we said all along, for Gunn behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($146.5M).
Talk about pressure. DC Studios in their new chapter bet on their co-studio Boss, Gunn, to tee them off. What if Superman didn’t work? Then the whole house of cards falls down, right? But there’s another way of thinking: Let’s talk about the risk involved had DC Studios not tapped Gunn to direct Superman. He’s arguably one of the best superhero filmmakers out there right now, and a visionary who can steer between art and commerce.
In regards to how Warners and DC overcame the cynics, who were out there from the onset of the first trailer. Studio sources say that they always knew coming off recent broken DC movies, there would be an uphill battle to convince audiences and be open to the new DC and Superman. It was going to take more than a 2 1/2 minute piece to get people off their couches. Clearly in the first trailer, the story wasn’t going to be fully told. Too soon. It was a feel piece, all tone and feel with no dialogue. Every beat of the campaign was planned and calculated until this weekend which culminated in a great orchestral swell of social sentiment, audience scores and critical reviews.
EntTelligence reports 7.7 million admissions this weekend for Superman off an average ticket price of $15.77 and average PLF ticket price of $18.95.
Wait, weren’t some sources expecting Superman to go hog wild after the $22M previews with a $140M-$150M opening? Is MAGA to blame? Is Gunn’s “immigrant” comments to blame? It’s my understanding, not at all, because the red county zones for this type of movie aren’t underperforming (more on that soon), rather they’re churning out the average amount of cash for a PG-13 family adventures movie. At $120M+, this is the ceiling for a standalone Superman movie when he’s not fighting Batman in the desolate remains of Gotham.
Superman‘s legs aren’t that different from Man of Steel‘s, but that’s only for each movie’s first three days (Thursday-Saturday), read the Zack Snyder movie between its $12M previews and Friday did…$56M. Its Saturday fell -35% for $36M [And as we told you further down, Matt Reeves’ The Batman eased -24% between its Friday/previews and Saturday]. Back in the whip and buggy days of 2013, Warners didn’t combine previews into Friday, rather they rolled into the weekend (Man of Steel doing a $116.6M 3-day and $128.6M running cume). Sunday held like a miraculous rock for Man of Steel earning $36.2M, even with Saturday. When does that ever happen? Why did it happen? It was Fathers Day.
AMC Burbank remains the highest grossing single-location gross for Gunn’s Man of Steel at $261.2K.
The top ten theater locations for Superman were 1. AMC Burbank, 2. AMC Lincoln Square New York, 3. Regal Irvine Spectrum Los Angeles, 4. AMC Empire New York, 5. AMC Disney Springs Orlando, 6. Regal Edwards Marq’E Houston, 7. AMC Universal Citywalk Los Angeles, 8. AMC Garden State New York, 9. Regal Kendall Village Miami, and 10. Regal Atlantic Station Atlanta.
The top ten markets were 1. Los Angeles, 2. New York, 3. Dallas, 4. Chicago, 5. San Francisco, 6. Houston, 7. Washington DC, 8. Toronto, 9. Atlanta, and 10. Philadelphia.
Comscore and Paul Dergarabedian report that this weekend is coming in at $200M, +59% from the same weekend a year ago. The summer box office is clicking at $2.35 billion, currently a post Covid best, +17% over last year’s first Friday in May through July 13. Still, the summer lags behind 2019 pre Covid by -14%. Overall box office year for Jan. 1 through July 13 stands at $4.7 billion, +15% ahead of the same frame a year ago, but -24% behind pre-Covid 2019 (which at this point in time stood at $6.2 billion).
Sunday morning reported figures:
1.) Superman (WB) 4,135 theaters, Fri $56.5M, $37.7M Sun $28.2M-$30M 3-day $122M-$124M/Wk 1
2.) Jurassic World Rebirth (Uni) 4,324 (+16) theaters, Fri $11.5M Sat $16M Sun $12.3M 3-day $40M (-57%), Total $232.1M/Wk 2
3.) F1 (WB) 3,412 (-320) theaters, Fri $3.7M (-47%) Sat $5.2M Sun $4.1M 3-day $13M (-50%), Total $136.1M/Wk 3
4.) How to Train Your Dragon (Uni) 3,285 (-429) theaters, Fri $2.34M Sat $3M Sun $2.38M 3-day $7.8M (-31%), Total $239.8M/Wk 5
5.) Elio (Dis) 2,730 (-505) theaters, Fri $1.2M (-20%) Sat $1.6M Sun $1.1M 3-day $3.9M (-32%), Total $63.6M/Wk 4
6.) 28 Years Later (Sony) 2,208 (-709) theaters, Fri $815K (-26%) Sat $1.1M Sun $800K 3-day $2.72M (-40%), Total $65.7M/Wk 4
7.) Lilo & Stitch (Dis) 2,075 (-485) theaters, Fri $800K Sat $1.1M Sun $800K 3-day $2.7M (-31%), Total $414.5M/Wk 8
8.) M3GAN 2.0 (Uni) 1,658 (-1,475) theaters, Fri $430K Sat $570K Sun $350K, 3-day $1.35M (-66%), Total $22.3M/Wk 3
9.) Mission: Impossible – Final Reckoning (Par) 1,132 (-413) theaters, Fri $395K Sat $625K Sun $430K 3-day $1.45M (-47%), Total $194M/Wk 8
10.) Materialists (A24) 589 (-438) theaters, Fri $210K (-41%) Sat $292K Sun $219K 3-day $720K (-46%), Total $35.1M/Wk 5