Los Angeles: Man of Steel,” the big-budget reboot of the Superman franchise, leaped over the apocalyptic buddy comedy “This is the End,” collecting a muscular $113.1 million (71.9 million pounds) to lead the domestic box office with the year’s second-largest debut weekend and the biggest June opening ever.
“Man of Steel,” starring British-born Henry Cavill in the first Superman movie released in seven years, carried a hefty budget of $225 million and took in a total of $125 million through Sunday including early screenings, according to BoxOffice.com.
The special-effects laden film is the story of the infant Kal-El, who escapes his doomed home planet Krypton and grows up in the idyllic town of Smallville with his parents, played by Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.
Amy Adams plays the budding super hero’s girlfriend Lois Lane. The film, directed by Zack Snyder, with Christopher Nolan (“The Dark Knight,” “Inception”) serving as co-writer and one of its producers, added $71.6 million from overseas box offices in 24 markets.–Reuters