It's a bird. It's a plane. It's the biggest June opening weekend, literally ever. As of now, Man of Steel has collected $196.7 MILLION DOLLARS in its first four days, which is, put in perspective, enough dollar menu cheeseburgers to cover two-thirds of the US population's drunk-munching needs. The verdict is clear: Loads of car-throwing and explosions plus Henry Cavill shirtless is a recipe for success, although in retrospect that seems sort of obvious.
Reviewers have said the plot could've been better, but viewers don't seem to agree, if the opening weekend bonanza is anything to go by. I'll have to eat my words about America not needing a moody superhero because evidence shows I could not have been more wrong. Ah well, can't be right all the time. I guess when the moody superhero in question has a six-pack you could balance a plate on, all bets are off.
Still, it seems audiences don't like moody superheroes quite as much as light-hearted ones — despite Man of Steel's huge opening, the film finished behind other superhero movies, including Marvel's The Avengers and Iron Man 3, which are still sitting pretty at No. 1 and 2. But since The Dark Knight Rises and The Dark Knight took No. 3 and 4, respectively, there's some good news on Man of Steel's angsty horizon. After all, the newest Superman, which clocked in at No. 8 on the list of superhero movie openings, still finished above the first film that launched the smash Dark Knight trilogy, Batman Begins (No. 30). Don't be surprised to see Superman soar even higher when he returns for his sequel.
