Box office roundup – June 16, 2013 – "Man of Steel" sets June records with super haul

1. Man of Steel – $113.1 million [debut week; $125.1 million since Thursday] There was no doubt this was going to be the weekend’s top film and the reps at Warner Bros. are no doubt pleased to see that the Superman’s relaunch set an all-time June record topping the fantastic “Toy Story 3’s” $110 million. And for all of you curious, WB has already got Director Zack Snyder and Screenwriter David S. Goyer signed on for the sequel.

While some analysts are comparing this to “Iron Man 3′s” second-best opening ever, that’s probably not the best measuring stick as “Iron Man 3” was the seventh film in the highly popular “Avengers” franchise while “Man of Steel” hopes to be the start of a potential “Justice League” series. So looking at it from that perspective, “MOS” is ahead of the first “Iron Man’s” $98 million opening and much better than the $48 million 2005 relaunch of Batman with “Batman Begins.” The fact that “MOS” can be in the same conversation with “Iron Man 3” proves that Warner Bros. Pictures has figured out a successful superhero formula in a way it hadn’t just two years ago with the disappointing “Green Lantern,” which grossed a total of $116 million in its entire theatrical run and the most recent Superman relaunch “Superman Returns,” which only managed a $52 million opening weekend en route to $200 million.

2. This is the End – $33 million [debut week] – Seth Rogen, James Franco, Craig Robinson, Jonah Hill and company have reason for another world-ending rave as their comedy/horror had a great opening and already made back its $32 million budget. I wasn’t a huge fan of the film as I think Rogen and co-writer/director Evan Goldberg are capable of so much more, but “End’s” success will guarantee they get a chance to do several more collaborations. “End” didn’t fare as well as last summer’s breakout comedy, “Ted,” which came out at the end of June, but with strong word of mouth, this could be the year’s highest grossing comedy provided it has enough legs to catch “Identity Thief.” That Jason Bateman/Melissa McCarthy comedy opened to similar numbers in February and went on to gross $134 million.

3. Now You See Me – $10.3 million [3rd week; $80 million total] While critics didn’t really get caught up in the act, audiences have fallen under the spell as this magic heist film is on a decent path to $100 million.

4. Fast & Furious 6 – $9.3 million [4th week; $219.6 million total] The Vin Diesel/Paul Walker/Dwayne Johnson action epic is now the highest grossing installment of the series. Worldwide, this weekend’s haul brought it to $637 million beating out previous franchise top grosser-“Fast Five,” which had $628 million.

The franchise won’t be slowing down anytime soon clearly as audiences are eagerly awaiting the seventh installment starring Jason Statham as the next villain to tangle with Diesel and company.

5. The Purge – $8.5 million [2nd week; $51. 8 million] Last week’s champ had the door shut on it this week as it plummeted to 4th place.

Horror films are normally good for one good week and this followed suit so this wasn’t unexpected at all.