A SOLID OPENER FOR MAN OF STEEL NEW `SUPERMAN' EARNS $21 MILLION.Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer The Man of Steel's return flight to the big screen was a hit with audiences Wednesday, as ``Superman Returns'' grossed a solid $21 million, Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . announced Thursday. Overall, it was the eighth-biggest Wednesday opening ever, besting such films as ``Lord of the Rings: Return of the King,'' ``Star Wars: Episode I -- The Phantom Menace,'' ``The Passion of the Christ'' and ``War of the Worlds.'' While not at the level of the Wednesday opening for 2004's ``Spider-Man 2'' ($40.4 million), the debut was better than last summer's midweek bow for ``Batman Begins'' ($15 million). ```Superman' had a solid opening day, certainly within reasonable expectations,'' said Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic way. Brandon Gray started the site in August 1998 and claims to now receive over one million monthly visitors. . ``The talk of this being anywhere close to a record-breaker was grossly overestimated given that this is essentially a franchise resurrection like `Batman Begins' was.'' ``Superman Returns,'' starring Brandon Routh Brandon Routh (born October 9, 1979) is an American actor and former fashion model. He grew up in Iowa before moving to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career, and subsequently appeared on several television series throughout the early 2000s. as the title character and Oscar winner Kevin Spacey spac·ey adj. Slang Variant of spacy. Adj. 1. spacey - stupefied by (or as if by) some narcotic drug spaced-out, spacy unconventional - not conventional or conformist; "unconventional life styles" as the evil Lex Luthor Lex Luthor (Alexander Luthor) is a fictional DC Comics supervillain and is the primary antagonist of the Superman franchise. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, he first appeared in Action Comics #23 (1940). , was directed by Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two ``X-Men'' films. Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution at Warner Bros., called the first-day figures ``a fabulous opening'' and pointed out that it had been 19 years since a Superman movie has been released. In all, Christopher Reeve played Superman in four films, starting with ``Superman: The Movie'' in 1978 through ``Superman IV: The Quest for Verb 1. quest for - go in search of or hunt for; "pursue a hobby" quest after, go after, pursue look for, search, seek - try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of; "The police are searching for clues"; "They are searching for the Peace'' in 1987. ``Talk about rejuvenating a franchise; it can't be done better,'' Fellman said. ``We had a franchise that had run its course after the fourth movie, which grossed $15.6 million during its entire run.'' Warners relaunched its other comic book superhero su·per·he·ro n. pl. su·per·he·roes A figure, especially in a comic strip or cartoon, endowed with superhuman powers and usually portrayed as fighting evil or crime. franchise with ``Batman Begins,'' starring Christian Bale, eight years after the most previous Batman film starring George Clooney stalled at the box office. It went on to gross $204.3 million domestically, and Bale is set to return for another installment. With a reported production budget of $250 million, ``Superman'' will need to earn at least that and more to cover the movie-making costs and the additional millions spent on marketing and publicity. ``While it was an expensive movie, we're in a global industry today,'' Fellman said. ```Superman' is going to do extremely well not only domestically, but internationally as well, and will have a strong life in the ancillary world.'' ``Superman'' will have the opportunity to dominate the box-office landscape through what will be an extended Fourth of July Fourth of July, Independence Day, or July Fourth, U.S. holiday, commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. Celebration of it began during the American Revolution. holiday weekend for many. But after just nine days in theaters, it will be up against the opening weekend of expected box-office juggernaut ``Pirates of the Caribbean This article is about the franchise. For other, more specific uses, see Pirates of the Caribbean (disambiguation). For real pirates, see Piracy in the Caribbean. Pirates of the Caribbean : Dead Man's Curse,'' which bows July 7. The Disney release is a sequel to 2003's ``Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl,'' which grossed an astonishing a·ston·ish tr.v. as·ton·ished, as·ton·ish·ing, as·ton·ish·es To fill with sudden wonder or amazement. See Synonyms at surprise. $305.4 million domestically. ``There's room for both,'' said Gray. ``I imagine `Pirates' might impact its second weekend a bit, but then after that it should level off. Right now, it's too early to say whether this is a box-office success or failure since it's only the opening day. But it should be strong right up to July 4.'' greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com (818) 713-3758 CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color) The Man of Steel generated solid if not super business at the box office Wednesday. First-day receipts for ``Superman Returns'' were half of what ``Spider-Man 2'' did on its Wednesday opener two years ago. Associated Press |
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