SUPER SEQUELS MOVIES BASED ON COMIC BOOK FRANCHISES HAVE BEEN SOLID GOLD AT THE DOMESTIC BOX OFFICE OVER THE PAST 25-PLUS YEARS. IT ALL BEGAN WITH THE FIRST ``SUPERMAN'' MOVIE STARRING CHRISTOPHER REEVE. NOW BRANDON ROUTH TAKES OVER THE TITLE ROLE AFTER THE MAN OF STEEL'S NEARLY TWO-DECADE ABSENCE FROM THE BIG SCREEN.

Byline: GREG HERNANDEZ Staff Writer

When it comes to showing box-office muscle, the Man of Steel has a lot of movie tickets to sell if ``Superman Returns,'' opening in theaters today, is to approach the blockbuster levels of such recent superhero franchises as ``Spider-Man,'' ``X-Men'' and ``Batman.''

``Superman'' is being given the widest opening of any movie in Warner Bros. history, bowing in 4,065 theaters and on approximately 8,500 screens.

``It is certainly going to be one of the biggest blockbusters of the summer,'' predicted Gitesh Pandya, editor of BoxOfficeGuru.com. ``The character is arguably the most well-known superhero in existence and that helps with the crossover appeal. I think there's a lot of excitement for this film; a very wide audience is excited.''

Warners decided to open ``Superman'' on a Wednesday (there were also hundreds of late-night Tuesday showings to accommodate the most eager of fans) to maximize what will be an extended Fourth of July weekend for many.

``It's a very, very long weekend ahead of us,'' said Dan Fellman, head of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. ``A lot of people are taking off this week so we think we can do extremely well on Wednesday and Thursday, then go into a long five-day weekend. A lot of businesses will be closed Monday and Tuesday next week.''

Because it opens midweek, ``Superman'' will likely not have a shot at the three-day opening record of $114.8 million set by ``Spider-Man'' in 2002. Last month, ``X-Men: The Last Stand'' had a staggering debut of $102.75 million; that three-film franchise has grossed nearly $600 million domestically.

Last summer's ``Batman Begins'' restarted that superhero franchise after an eight-year gap, with Christian Bale in the role previously played on the big screen by Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer and George Clooney. Warner Bros. gambled then that audiences would still be interested in the caped crusader and was rewarded with a domestic gross of $204.3 million.

``Superman'' is expected to do even better despite coming nearly 20 years after the late Christopher Reeve last donned the red cape for a big-screen outing. Reeve starred in four ``Superman'' movies released between 1978 and 1987.

The character has not faded from the public consciousness thanks in part to the current hit TV drama ``Smallville,'' which chronicles the superhero's early years as well as the four-year run in the 1990s of ``Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman'' starring Dean Cain as Clark Kent/Superman and Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane.

``I think `Superman' will certainly be bigger than `Batman Begins' with the Wednesday opening, then the whole long weekend,'' said Pandya. ``There will be some tremendous numbers.'' The new ``Superman'' stars Brandon Routh in the title role and Kevin Spacey as villain Lex Luthor and was directed by Bryan Singer, who helmed the first two ``X-Men'' movies.

The Warner Bros. release had a hefty production budget reported to be $250 million. When advertising and marketing costs are figured in, the investment is even bigger and the pressure for the film to deliver at the box office far greater. ``Superman Returns'' has received mostly positive reviews but their impact could be negligible since so far this summer, several critically slammed films, including ``The Da Vinci Code,'' ``The Break-Up'' and ``Click,'' have turned out to be major hits.

```Superman' is already one of the most-anticipated movies of the year so to be well-reviewed is, for this movie, icing on the cake,'' said box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations Co. ``It can't hurt to have good reviews because a good review or a bad review could take someone who's on the fence about seeing a movie and push them in particular directions.'' According to figures released Tuesday by online ticket seller Fandango, 78 percent of all advance ticket sales this week are for ``Superman'' with 53 percent of the ticket buyers claiming that positive advance reviews made them more interested in seeing the film.

greg.hernandez(at)dailynews.com

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CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) Brandon Routh is the Man of Steel in ``Superman Returns''

(2 -- color) BATMAN

TOTAL EARNINGS: $916.3 million

(3 -- color) SPIDER-MAN

TOTAL EARNINGS: $777.3 million

(4 -- color) X-MEN

TOTAL EARNINGS: $591 million

Box:

PAST SUPERMAN FILMS

Source: MovieWeb; Box Office Mojo