Final numbers are in.
Reportedly carrying a budget of a staggering $260-300 million (including roughly $40 million in development costs over the past ten years), nervous executives at Warner Bros. had hoped that their 19 years of strife was worth the wait, as Superman Returns made its long-awaited entrance into theaters. Perhaps expectations were just too high as The Man of Steel's return to the big screen netted a relatively disappointing $52.1 million over the weekend, and $84.2 million since its opening on Wednesday, numbers that came in below industry expectations, and certainly below those projected by Warner execs. Still, with a solid $21 million opening day take on Wednesday, the Bryan Singer-helmed superhero pic easily topped the box office, beating the surprisingly strong counter-programming newcomer The Devil Wears Prada which took in an estimated $27 million in second place.
Adding Monday and Tuesday estimates to its total, Superman Returns pushed its cume to $106 million over its first week of release and $73.98 million over the 5-day holiday frame (Friday-Tuesday).
Soaring to a solid $12,829 average in an ultrawide 4,065 theaters, Superman Returns was also aided by $5 million from 76 IMAX theaters, making the film the highest-grossing IMAX debut in history (surpassing the $3.1m take from Batman Begins). Tagged early on by some as the film to beat this summer, Warner's tentpole summer release debuted better than the studio's revival of another storied but faded franchise Batman Begins, which grossed $72.9 million in its first five days of release. That film, buoyed by strong word of mouth, finished its domestic run with an impressive $205.3 million, but Superman Returns faces a much more uphill battle, facing behemoth-in-waiting Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest this Friday, and what appears to be lukewarm word of mouth and interest from non-die-hard Superman fans for the two-and-a-half hour epic.
Among 5-day openings, Superman Returns' $84 million haul pales in comparison to X-Men: The Last Stand, which took in a sizzling $130 million at the end of May. Among other comic book adaptations, 2002's Spider-Man had a five-day haul of $135.8m, while 2004's Spider-Man 2 raked in $152.4m.
On a positive note, the well-reviewed release tied Men in Black 2 as the third biggest Independence Day weekend debut in history, behind only Spider-Man 2's $88.2 million in 2004, and last summer's War of the World's with $64.9 million (and $100.6m over five days). Warner's gamble to release the film so closely to Disney's Pirates to reap the benefits of the July 4th weekend might wind up being its downfall domestically. Though it's too soon to tell, it is unlikely that Superman Returns will surpass $200 million in North America, which means Warner will have to hope Superman's international appeal provides enough firepower to propel the film to profitability. Internationally, Superman added $19.8 million from 1,750 theaters mainly in Asia (European and Latin American release dates were pushed back until after the World Cup final).
Fox continues to have a standout summer, following the massive success of its superhero pic X3: The Last Stand, as their counter-programming chick flick The Devil Wears Prada took in a powerful $27 million in second, making the Meryl Streep starrer the biggest second place finisher ever over a July 4th weekend. The debut was the second biggest opening of Streep's career following the $30m debut of 2004's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the biggest of co-star Anne Hathaway's, surpassing the $22.9m bow of 2004's The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement. Though reviews were largely mixed for the $35 million budgeted book adaptation, Prada averaged a strong $9,484 in 2,847 theaters, and should continue to benefit from the counter-programming angle next weekend.
Of the holdovers, last week's champ Click fell 51% to an estimated $19.4 million, pushing its ten-day cume to a strong $77.9 million. Budgeted at $82 million, the film is set to become Adam Sandler's seventh $100 million grossing film. Enjoying the smallest drop in the top ten was Disney/Pixar's Cars, which fell just 40% to an estimated $14 million in fourth, pushing its four week cume to an impressive $182.1 million. Look for the computer-animated film to surpass $200 million within the next two weeks.
Thanks to Superman and an unexpectedly strong debut from Prada, the top ten films grossed an estimated $136.2 million, up another 5% from last year's comparable frame when War of the Worlds debuted at No. 1 with $64.9 million.
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