Its definitely looking like a strong weekend...
Man of Steel's official Friday estimate? $44.1 million (this includes $9 million from midnight and excludes the $12 million earned from Wal-Mart's exclusive evening screenings sales). Including the latter, the film has already netted $56 million so far. With a solid "A-" CinemaScore, audiences are really enjoying Superman's return to the big screen (critics, not so much). However, Man of Steel will easily top Toy Story 3's $110 million opening as the top-grossing June opening of all-time. I think a $123 million weekend, ahead of expectations, is in the cards.
This is the End burned off demand from Wednesday, but it is performing as expected. The film tallied an estimated $6.9 million on Friday, which is only slightly higher than The Internship from last week. And the film got an identical CinemaScore from audiences (B+). However, we should take into effect that critics enjoyed this movie much better than Internship, and with Father's Day on Sunday, grosses won't drop as hard. I think a $20 million weekend is expected here, for a $32.5 million five-day launch.
Most holovers plummeted from the red-caped crusader. Now You See Me came in third place with a 46% drop from last week to an estimated $3.3 million, in what should be a weekend of $11.5 million. The Purge fell an alarming 83% from last Friday to an estimated $2.9 million, in what will likely be an $8.5 million frame. Fast and Furious 6 plummeted 56% to an estimated $2.7 million, though it should pick up to about $9.5 million for the weekend and take fourth place.
Weekend estimates to be posted tomorrow...
