1) Man Of Steel- 120M weekend, 120M total
OK, so it isn’t quite the biggest opening of all time… or even of the summer. Keep in mind that Bryan Singer’s 2006 adaptation only opened to 52M, after being super hyped. Superman isn’t as big as some of the other superheros, which is why it keeps needing to be rebooted. The trailer for the film reminds us that this is the team that was behind The Dark Knight, and that you should be way more excited. Fandango is reporting excellent advance sales, so it will likely do much better than the previous Superman film. Plus, there’s virtually no competition anymore. Superhero films are all the rage right now.
2) This Is The End- 30M weekend, 45M total
Technically, This Is The End is running 7PM shows tonight, and is hoping to get the jump on some extra dough before Man of Steel opens. That early opening will allow for word of mouth on what is already being called a really strong film. This Is The End is currently rolling with a very high 82% on Rotten Tomatoes, way above The Internship, which disappointed last week. Even with an R rating, This Is The End should benefit from excellent counterprogramming.
3) The Purge- 15M weekend, 55M total
The low budgeted (3M!) horror flick that just keeps on giving will drop to third this week and churn out another 15M. Those looking for a scare won’t turn to Superman or Seth Rogen, and The Purge will continue to chug along because of it.
4) Now You See Me- 13M weekend, 79M total
The crowd pleasing magic fest will likely eeek out above Fast 6. Last week it dropped only 35% against Fast’s 44%.
5) Fast and Furious 6- 12M weekend, 217M total
Look for the Fast gang to knock out another Top 5 finish as The Rock continues his total dominance over 2013.
6) Epic- 9M weekend, 97M total
With no other kids films in the marketplace, Epic will slide another 30% this week, and put itself within striking distance of 100M.
7) The Internship- 8M weekend, 28M total
With This Is The End targeting their audience, a large drop of more than 50% will be in store, knocking the Wilson/Vaughn competition way down the line.
8) Star Trek Into Darkness- 7M weekend, 210M total
Star Trek dipped only 30% last week, but this week is likely to start losing screens. Even if it holds pretty well, the screen count loss (so theatres can start adding Man Of Steel) should be enough to knock it down a bit.
9) After Earth- 5M weekend, 53M total
Dismal box office, but it will still outperform The Internship.
10) Before Midnight- 4M weekend, 6M total
Before Midnight expands into 600 screens this week, and will battle for the 10th place spot with The Hangover 3 (which will also make about 4M this weekend, bringing the total to 108M). It should beat out Iron Man 3, which will make around 3M, and The Great Gatsby which should make between 2-3 million.
