Man of Steel officially landed in theaters Friday, and after a surprisingly strong midnight premiere, the studio is expecting a monster weekend at the domestic box office.
Man of Steel reviews remain quite mixed, as the film currently holds a 57% on RottenTomatoes, but fans seem to be enjoying the film nonetheless.
Its action sequences are said to rival even Marvel’s The Avengers, and Warner Bros. is extremely happy as they’re hoping Man of Steel will be the start of a franchise that they badly need for the next few years. If the film does end up pulling in $130 or more, it would certainly cement their plans of moving forward with a sequel with director Zack Snyder and the film’s writer David S. Goyer.
Man of Steel cost a reported $225 million to be made, and as a rule of thumb, the film needs to more than double its budget for it to be considered a success. Despite the fact that rumors are already swirling that Warner Bros. plans on a sequel, we imagine the studio is looking to make around $800+ million worldwide for a sequel to be green-lit.
What’s interesting is it has been reported that because of the wholesome image of Superman, Man of Steel has already pulled in $170 million from product placement and advertising. We’re not quite sure how that will play into the film’s success, but we imagine it can’t hurt to almost make back your budget with advertising revenue before the film even hits theaters.
What’s more important is how well Man of Steel ends up doing internationally, as recent films such as Iron Man 3 have pulled in more than 70% of their box office overseas. Success in these international markets will be vital to the film’s overall success in the next few weeks.
We recently took at look at whether Man of Steel would be a summer blockbuster or not, where we went into great detail about what would be considered a success and whether the film’s success could lead into a Justice League film down the road. Hypable also caught up with the main cast members of Man of Steel, so make sure to check out our interviews with Henry Cavill and Amy Adams.
Man of Steel was released in 4,207 locations this weekend, which is the 2nd widest release ever for a non-sequel, and the film has reportedly pulled in an estimated $50 million on Friday. Do you plan on checking out Henry Cavill as Superman this weekend? If so, be sure to check out Hypable’s Man of Steel review.
Update: Reports are in that Man of Steel is headed for a $200 million dollar worldwide opening weekend.
If you’ve seen Man of Steel already, be sure to let us know what you thought below.