Superman No. 1 in single bound

Man of Steel, the grim reboot of the Superman movies, took in about $129 million in ticket sales last week, giving the Warner Bros. the year’s second-best opening behind Walt Disney Co.’s Iron Man 3 in May.

The film, starring British actor Henry Cavill, also set a record for June opening weekends, toppling 2010’s Toy Story 3 ($110.3 million), researcher Hollywood.com said Sunday. Columbia’s raunchy comedy This Is the End finished second, with $33 million in its debut.

Sales for Man of Steel suggest Warner Bros. has found a new superhero franchise to replace the Dark Knight Batman trilogy that ended last year.Superman’s success also may lead to a Justice League film uniting heroes from Warner’s DC Comics division, similar to the way Disney brought Marvel characters Iron Man and Thor into a single film, The Avengers. That went on to be the third top-grossing movie of all time with $1.5 billion in global sales.

Warner Bros. President Dan Fellman said a lot of people are interested in a Justice League film, which would marry DC Comics characters, including Superman and Batman, in a single movie.

“It’ll happen,” he said. “We have to just decide what comes next. It’s a good problem to have.”

Fellman, who called last weekend’s receipts staggering, declined to comment on whether there will be a sequel to Man of Steel, although he said the studio “is looking at every option we have.”

Iron Man 3 has the year’s best opening weekend, with$174 million in its early May debut.

Man of Steel begins with the infant Kal-El being rocketed to Earth by his father, Jor-El, as his native planet Krypton nears destruction. He gradually realizes his special Superman powers as he is reared by the Kents, a humble Midwestern couple played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane. Amy Adams plays Lois Lane, the reporter who tries to uncover the truth about Superman, and Russell Crowe makes brief appearances as Jor-El.

The film, produced by Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, is infused with a darker, grimmer tone than previous Superman films. The Kents urge Clark to hide his powers, even if it means allowing people to die. Cavill’s character becomes a drifter, working odd jobs while trying to discover his purpose and place among humans.

The movie earned a 56 percent fresh, or favorable rating, from reviews compiled by Rottentomatoes.com.

”Man of Steel is an audacious undertaking,” Christopher Orr wrote in The Atlantic. “What is open to question - and I confess to finding myself uncharacteristically ambivalent on the subject - is whether the resulting heavyweight summer blockbuster is very much fun.”

Among returning films, the horror tale The Purge dropped to fifth from first, with $8.3 million.

Weekend revenue for the top 12 films rose 55 percent to $197.4 million from the year-earlier period, Hollywood.com said. Attendance is down 5 percent year to date, while revenue is 5 percent lower at $4.64 billion.

MovieStyle, Pages 35 on 06/21/2013

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