erik lundegaard

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Sunday June 23, 2013

Hollywood B.O.: Mark Harris vs. Superman in the Battle of the Century!!

This morning, Mark Harris, author of “Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood” (much recommended), tweeted the following:

Apparently he got into some arguments last weekend about “Man of Steel” and is crowing this weekend. I tweeted this back:

The 71% drop is Friday-to-Friday, as he later tweeted, but the weekend drop for Supes isn’t much better: -64.7%.

How bad is that for a movie that opened this big? Let’s look at the 25 movies that have opened with more than $100 million domestic and sort by the second-weekend percentage drop. This is what you get:

MOVIE 1st WKND DROP 2nd WKND THTRS TOTAL BO
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 $169,189,427 -72.00% $47,422,212 4,375 $381,011,219
The Twilight Saga: New Moon $142,839,137 -70.00% $42,870,031 4,042 $296,623,634
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 $138,122,261 -69.80% $41,683,574 4,066 $281,287,133
The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 $141,067,634 -69.10% $43,641,448 4,070 $292,324,737
X-Men: The Last Stand $102,750,665 -66.90% $34,017,247 3,714 $234,362,462
Man of Steel $116,619,362 -64.70% $41,215,000 4,207 $210,006,000
The Hunger Games $152,535,747 -61.60% $58,551,063 4,137 $408,010,692
Spider-Man 3 $151,116,516 -61.50% $58,166,256 4,252 $336,530,303
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $114,732,820 -61.50% $44,206,660 4,362 $309,420,425
The Dark Knight Rises $160,887,295 -61.40% $62,101,451 4,404 $448,139,099
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $108,966,307 -61.20% $42,320,877 4,234 $402,111,870
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 $125,017,372 -60.70% $49,087,101 4,125 $295,983,305
Iron Man 2 $128,122,480 -59.40% $52,041,005 4,380 $312,433,331
Iron Man 3 $174,144,585 -58.40% $72,525,615 4,253 $403,120,000
Shrek the Third $121,629,270 -56.40% $53,039,992 4,122 $322,719,944
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $100,137,835 -55.30% $44,754,615 4,260 $317,101,119
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $135,634,554 -54.00% $62,345,264 4,133 $423,315,812
The Dark Knight $158,411,483 -52.50% $75,166,466 4,366 $533,345,358
Marvel's The Avengers $207,438,708 -50.30% $103,052,274 4,349 $623,357,910
Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith $108,435,841 -49.10% $55,205,972 3,663 $380,270,577
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire $102,685,961 -46.70% $54,727,138 3,858 $290,013,036
Toy Story 3 $110,307,189 -46.20% $59,337,669 4,028 $415,004,880
Alice in Wonderland (2010) $116,101,023 -46.00% $62,714,076 3,728 $334,191,110
Spider-Man $114,844,116 -37.80% $71,417,527 3,615 $403,706,375
Shrek 2 $108,037,878 -33.20% $72,170,363 4,163 $441,226,247

Numbers via Box Office Mojo

Sixth-worst. Not good. And the five above it are sequels, which have a tendency to start fast and fade fast.

On the other hand, we are talking about Superman here. It’s not like people needed much of an introduction. He’s one of the most famous characters in the world. It’s a reboot, but fans were primed for it as if it were a sequel.

At the same time, “Man of Steel” has been a divisive movie, among both critics and fans, and the numbers reflect that. My own review reflects my own divisive feelings. But if I had to do the Siskel-Ebert thing, my thumb would be pointing up. There are some clever updates on the Superman myth. Plus a lot of POW! BAM! if that’s your thing. (It isn’t mine. Nor, apparently, Harris’.)

“Man of Steel” did face some tough competition in its second weekend, too: a sequel to a hugely popular Pixar film; and the zombie pic to end all zombie pics. Compare “Man of Steel”’s performance to “The Hunger Games,” since both are “new movies” with vast name recognition. “Hunger Games” did better to open ($152 to $116) and dropped less steeply during its second weekend (-61.6% to -64.7%), but it also weaker competition that second go-round: “Wrath of Titans” and something called “Mirror Mirror” rather than “Monsters University” and “World War Z.” The joys of opening in March.

In non-Superman-related news, “Monsters University” won the weekend with $82 million, which is the second-highest opening weekend gross for a Pixar movie, after “Toy Story 3.” “World War Z” finished second with $66 million, which is the best open ever for a Brad Pitt movie.

Is "Man of Steel"'s moment in the sun over already?

Is “Man of Steel”'s moment in the sun over already?

Posted at 06:48 PM on Sunday June 23, 2013 in category Movies - Box Office