After numerous blog posts and much speculation about the film--I have finally seen Superman Returns for myself...
While I'm still in the process of putting together my "official" and rather detailed review of the film...And as you await that coveted post, here's a few random points about the flick, to tide you over till then:
1. Brandon Routh makes a better than expected Superman. But seemed to fare even better as alter ego Clark Kent. Still, he ends up--aquitting himself nicely in the long shadow cast by the late Christopher Reeve...
2. In her role, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, delivers an uneven performance. I think it has more to do with the fact that she looks just too darn young to be a seasoned reporter--than with her acting skills...
3. Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor is a cross between the Gene Hackman version who had an "affinity for beach front property" and the darker Lex from the latest season of Smallville...
4. The film is indeed a tad too long...
5. The film's "big" rescue is as great as it gets...
6. Kal Penn and James Karen are nearly edited right out of the picture and that sucks.
7. Bryan Singer's respect for the Richard Donner film is cool... But the more I think about it...
8. The kid is...
9. The cinematography is superb. The costume looked better on film than it does in any still photo
10. Superman Returns takes flight and deserves a sequel (or two?) but it never really flies "up, up, and away".
I will see it again over the long holiday weekend...before posting the aforementioned full review...
Meanwhile, Variety's Ben Fritz and Dave McNary talk opening day numbers in Warner's high flyer rakes in $21 mil --here's the gist:
...had a strong takeoff domestically and overseas, though it didn't fly into the stratosphere.
Warner. Bros.' restart of the superhero franchise took in $21 million domestically at 3,915 playdates on Wednesday, in line with studio expectations and virtually even with the $21.3 million Paramount drew from "War of the Worlds" last year on its opening Wednesday before July 4.
Figures include Tuesday 10 p.m. shows, which sources indicated accounted for about $4 million of the total, though the studio would not confirm that. WB justified including the previous night's opening shows, which essentially gave the film 26 hours of play for one day, by noting that the two-hour, 37-minute running time meant there would be few midnight shows on a Tuesday.
In four foreign markets, "Superman Returns" grossed $1.3 million on 548 prints in three markets Wednesday, comfortably taking first place in the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.
On Thursday, pic opened to $919,000 at 407 playdates in Australia, also about even with "War of the Worlds." Other opening markets Thursday, for which grosses weren't available, included Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore and Taiwan.
Domestically, "Superman Returns" saw the eighth-biggest opening Wednesday ever. (Two years ago, "Spider-Man 2" set a record with its $40.4 million debut.) "Superman" came in comfortably ahead of the opening Wednesday for WB's previous effort to re-start a franchise, "Batman Begins," which took $15 million its first day in June 2005 and went on to cume $205 million.
The only near-record overseas was in the Philippines, where the $408,000 gross at 81 theaters was market's second biggest ever.
Stateside, males made up 58% of the opening-day aud[ience]s. Tracking indicates pic was lagging with women, but WB is hoping that men were more likely to come out the first day and women will prove more interested as the weekend wears on. Auds were virtually split between those over and under 25.
Seventy-six Imax screens accounted for $1.17 million, giving the 3-D version of the film an awesome $15,400-per-play average in just one day.
The first 24 hour numbers in the U.S. were not as BIG as I thought they would be. The final 7 day total should prove interesting...
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is the next would be blockbuster at bat for team Disney.
For now though...Supes will rule the box office.
While I'm still in the process of putting together my "official" and rather detailed review of the film...And as you await that coveted post, here's a few random points about the flick, to tide you over till then:
1. Brandon Routh makes a better than expected Superman. But seemed to fare even better as alter ego Clark Kent. Still, he ends up--aquitting himself nicely in the long shadow cast by the late Christopher Reeve...
2. In her role, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, delivers an uneven performance. I think it has more to do with the fact that she looks just too darn young to be a seasoned reporter--than with her acting skills...
3. Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor is a cross between the Gene Hackman version who had an "affinity for beach front property" and the darker Lex from the latest season of Smallville...
4. The film is indeed a tad too long...
5. The film's "big" rescue is as great as it gets...
6. Kal Penn and James Karen are nearly edited right out of the picture and that sucks.
7. Bryan Singer's respect for the Richard Donner film is cool... But the more I think about it...
8. The kid is...
9. The cinematography is superb. The costume looked better on film than it does in any still photo
10. Superman Returns takes flight and deserves a sequel (or two?) but it never really flies "up, up, and away".
I will see it again over the long holiday weekend...before posting the aforementioned full review...
Meanwhile, Variety's Ben Fritz and Dave McNary talk opening day numbers in Warner's high flyer rakes in $21 mil --here's the gist:
...had a strong takeoff domestically and overseas, though it didn't fly into the stratosphere.
Warner. Bros.' restart of the superhero franchise took in $21 million domestically at 3,915 playdates on Wednesday, in line with studio expectations and virtually even with the $21.3 million Paramount drew from "War of the Worlds" last year on its opening Wednesday before July 4.
Figures include Tuesday 10 p.m. shows, which sources indicated accounted for about $4 million of the total, though the studio would not confirm that. WB justified including the previous night's opening shows, which essentially gave the film 26 hours of play for one day, by noting that the two-hour, 37-minute running time meant there would be few midnight shows on a Tuesday.
In four foreign markets, "Superman Returns" grossed $1.3 million on 548 prints in three markets Wednesday, comfortably taking first place in the Philippines, South Korea and Thailand.
On Thursday, pic opened to $919,000 at 407 playdates in Australia, also about even with "War of the Worlds." Other opening markets Thursday, for which grosses weren't available, included Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Singapore and Taiwan.
Domestically, "Superman Returns" saw the eighth-biggest opening Wednesday ever. (Two years ago, "Spider-Man 2" set a record with its $40.4 million debut.) "Superman" came in comfortably ahead of the opening Wednesday for WB's previous effort to re-start a franchise, "Batman Begins," which took $15 million its first day in June 2005 and went on to cume $205 million.
The only near-record overseas was in the Philippines, where the $408,000 gross at 81 theaters was market's second biggest ever.
Stateside, males made up 58% of the opening-day aud[ience]s. Tracking indicates pic was lagging with women, but WB is hoping that men were more likely to come out the first day and women will prove more interested as the weekend wears on. Auds were virtually split between those over and under 25.
Seventy-six Imax screens accounted for $1.17 million, giving the 3-D version of the film an awesome $15,400-per-play average in just one day.
The first 24 hour numbers in the U.S. were not as BIG as I thought they would be. The final 7 day total should prove interesting...
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is the next would be blockbuster at bat for team Disney.
For now though...Supes will rule the box office.
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