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Man of Steel, directed by Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan, debuted to $125.1 million at the Father's Day box office to score the top opening of all time for June. That figure includes $12 million grossed Thursday night from special Walmart screenings, putting the actual three-day figure at $113.1 million.
Either way, Man of Steel eclipsed previous June record-holder Toy Story 3, which debuted to $110.3 million in June 2010. All told, grosses for Father's Day weekend were up a staggering 53 percent over last year.
Man of Steel is a notable win for WB and Legendary Pictures, which co-financed the $225 million tentpole. In 2006, WB and Legendary's Superman Returns did okay business at the box office, but not enough to mark a new chapter for the franchise.
Man of Steel opens exactly 30 years after Superman III, the third entry in the wildly popular Christopher Reeve franchise. There was one more title in that series, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, although it fell flat at the box office in summer 1987.
This time out, British star Henry Cavill stars as Clark Kent, aka Superman, which sees his character trying to hide his superpowers and live a normal life on Earth. Amy Adams stars as Lois Lane and Michael Shannon takes on the role of the menacing General Zod. Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane also star.
David S. Goyer penned the script based on a story he crafted with Nolan. Warners and Legendary turned to Nolan as a producer on the project after he successfully revived the Batman franchise with his Dark Knight trilogy. In the summer of 2005, Nolan's Batman Begins opened to $48.7 million and had incredible staying power.
Man of Steel, while drawing mixed reviews, earned an A- CinemaScore, portending strong word of mouth. The pic skewed male (56 percent) and was fueled by older moviegoers, with 62 percent of the audience over the age of 25.
IMAX theaters did big business, taking in $13.3 million (12 percent of the total gross) to likewise score the biggest June opening of all time.
Overall, 41 percent of the revenues came from 3D screens.
Overseas, Man of Steel is opening day-and-date in 24 markets, and is did huge business in the U.K. and Southeast Asia. The film's take through Friday was nearly $30 million, but full weekend numbers weren't immediately available.
It's a bird! It's a planet! It's an ad!
Warner Bros. has booked a whopping 98 promotional partners worldwide — so far — that are providing about $170 million in support (on top of paid ads) for Man of Steel. That’s even more than The Dark Knight Rises’ $150 million in third-party promos last summer. In addition to those already on board, Warners sources say even more international partners are expected before the movie takes flight June 14 in the U.S. and elsewhere this summer.
Warner Bros. would not discuss their third-party promotions or provide any figures but did confirm some of those who are involved. Sources say that Man of Steel has been a much easier movie to pitch to partners than The Dark Knight Rises, which was darker in theme and plot.
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Clark Kent’s alter ego may not be as joyful as the singing penguins who created a marketing glow that helped propel Happy Feet into merchandising history, but Superman is seen as an all-American figure, a real hero and someone whom people of all ages can admire. That makes the reinvented hero someone advertisers want to associate with.
Along with DC Comics regular partners like Mattel, with a line that includes a variety of action figures and collectibles (priced from around $10 to over $100), a partial list of partners includes toys from Lego, JAKKS Pacific (collectable figures) and Fisher Price (Super Friends for toddlers), shoes from Converse, costumes from Rubie’s, Hallmark cards, as well as apparel collections from Kinetics, Junk Food and Bioworld.
In the U.K., Chrysler is offering two new series of vehicles inspired by Man of Steel. The S-Series comes with oversized black alloy wheels, a dark steel grill and interior accents and a matte-black roof and hood.
Chrysler is also producing two, and only two, concept cars, that will have everything from embroidered carpet mats to a Man of Steel-branded key fob. They will be part of a contest in the U.K. with the cars going to two lucky winners.
There are also Nokia phones and interactive apps, Carls Jr. Super cheeseburgers, Hershey’s Twizzlers on Facebook (where fans create and star in a personalized video) as well as two retail partners -- which is unusual -- Walmart (selling licensed merchandise and tickets to a special screening) and Sears (one of whose stores features in a dramatic twist in the film).
Even the U.S. Army National Guard has enlisted with a Soldier of Steel promotion.
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