Pardon the delay, but I’m out of town for the week and am on a wildly different time zone. However, what was recorded on Sunday remains relevant on Thursday, as James Gunn’s acclaimed and buzzy Superman opened in North America with $125 million toward a $95 million overseas launch. The domestic grosses are good enough, especially with thus-far strong weekday earnings ($12.9 million on Monday, $17 million on Tuesday and $11.8 million on Wednesday) to compensate for thus-far lousy international grosses.
And the buzz is closer to Batman Begins than Superman Returns, so we invited TheWrap’s resident scooper and geek-specific (but not IP-exclusive) film journalist, Umberto Gonzalez, to answer “Why is this IP franchise reboot different from all other IP franchise reboots?”
Jeremy Fuster discusses how this furthers the notion of Warner Bros. Discovery’s attempts at theatrical consistency. Lisa Laman laments the lack of anything resembling counterprogramming similar to My Best Friend’s Wedding, The Devil Wears Prada, or This Is the End that once greeted other Batman and/or Superman movies. Scott Mendelson somewhat plays the “bad cop,” partially due to the lack of competition and the presumption of a crushing-all-comers strength, amid otherwise cautious optimism, and approval of the film’s politics.
In terms of the written word…
Scott Mendelson offered seven “takes” from Superman’s $125 million domestic debut.
Jeremy Fuster and Ross A. Lincoln noted that the LA County Board of Supervisors has approved measures to streamline filming permits, which ideally will help in the ongoing efforts to revitalize the in-state production ecosystem.
Lisa Laman named the seven best comic book/superhero movie scores. I could quibble here and there (#justice4Unbreakable), but maybe that’s my nostalgia talking.
Umberto Gonzalez discussed how, as seen with A Minecraft Movie, F1 and Jurassic World Rebirth, movie stars remain valuable as added-value elements for IP flicks.
Ryan Scott’s latest Tales from the Box Office discussed the tenth anniversary of Marvel’s Ant-Man. For that matter, so did Brandon Peters, Aaron Neuwirth and I on this week’s episode of “The Summer of 2015 at 10.”
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Scott Mendelson - The Outside Scoop and Puck News
Jeremy Fuster - TheWrap
Lisa Laman - Dallas Observer, Pajiba, Looper, Comic Book and Autostraddle
Umberto Gonzalez - TheWrap
