COMMENT: Does Superman Have Batman’s Legs?

Batman Begins

[Edited to add a conclusion!]

The early numbers are in and Superman Returns has raked in an estimated $84,208,000 at the domestic box office over its first five days in release, $12m ahead of Batman Begins over the same period, but with 2/3rds of that difference coming in over the first two days. Its $52,150,000 during the Friday-Sunday period — which ranks as only the 5th best opening in 2006, 47th overall — is almost tied with Batman Begins’ opening Friday-Sunday haul (June 17-19: $48,745,440) which ended up representing 23.7% of its total $205,343,774 gross.

If the Man of Steel can match the Dark Knight’s pace, Superman Returns should come in around $220 million at the domestic box office, notably short of its well-publicized $260 million production budget, a figure that doesn’t include what is very likely a hefty marketing budget of at least $50 million. Figure a foreign box office total matching Batman Begins’ $166 million, and you have a potential $400+ million blockbuster that in some circles will be considered a disappointment, a la Peter Jackson’s King Kong ($218m domestic BO, $207m budget).

The big question, though, is does Superman have Batman’s legs, and is not reaching the $200m plateau a possibility?

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Renaldo Balkman

I'm not a big basketball fan, and I stopped following the Knicks after Jeff Van Gundy left town, but this was funny:9:36 -- There are those moments in sports when you expect something great, and then it actually happens. And then there are those rare moments in sports when you expect something great, and something even greater happens. This was one of those moments: The Knicks on the clock, the crowd pushing for Marcus Williams, and then ... --Stern: "With the 20th pick, the New York Knicks select ... Renaldo Balkman."(Crowd explodes in horror.)--Stern (over the boos): "Renaldo is not…

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Me, Me, Me Meme

1. What time did you get up this morning?7am 2. Diamonds or Pearls?Silver3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?X3: The Last Stand4. What is your favorite TV show?Grey's Anatomy5. What did you have for breakfast this morning?Coffee6. What is your middle name?LeCharles7. What is your favorite cuisine?I like a wide range of food, but I got in trouble last time for not saying "Anything my wife cooks." ;-)8. What foods do you dislike?Weird textures, especially mushy stuff.9. Your favorite Potato chip?Pringles10. What is your favorite CD at the moment?The last mix CD I made.11. what kind…

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Marketing: Sam Jackson is my Bro!

Screw Superman on MySpace, this is viral marketing done right!Ever since I heard that Sam Jackson might be uttering the line, "There are motherf***ing snakes on the motherf***ing plane!" in a movie called Snakes on a Plane, I knew I had to see it. (Finding out Julianna Margulies is also in it certainly helped, and makes it more likely that my wife will want to see it, too!) Then I noticed in DC's solicits for September that they were releasing a comic book tie-in, with the first of two issues releasing on my birthday (see below), and figured I'd pick…

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Say What?: 6/28/06

"I felt that Marvel wasn't doing comics that reflected this generation. For better or worse, we live in the hip-hop era, and Spider-Man was the Beatles. I love Spider-Man and I love the Beatles, but what about kids who listen to Kanye West?"--Reginald Hudlin, THE WEDDING PLANNER: REGGIE HUDLIN Q&A"Maybe I'm wrong, but it seems to me that the stories about DC's new Batwoman, the thrust of the movie Superman's story and the character's ongoing appeal, the controversy over sexualized kid-lit characters in Lost Girls and questions about the shelving of certain kinds of manga all have kind of unspoken,…

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COMMENT: Ebert on Superman Returns

Like Fantastic Four last summer, I feel no sense of urgency about seeing Superman Returns this weekend, if at all, unimpressed by the various trailers I've seen or glowing (yet often awkwardly vague, and not in the "avoiding spoilers" sense) reviews I've read -- but haven't really been able to put my finger on why, other than never having been a fan of the character and not agreeing with the primary casting choices.I certainly enjoyed the first two movies -- and I have particularly fond memories of the "You'll Believe A Man Can Fly!" angle for the first one, because…

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