‘Great Gatsby’ Beats Bad Reviews, Earns $100 Million

The Great Gatsby had become a huge success for director Baz Luhrmann, becoming his first film to cross the $100 million mark at the domestic box office.

Luhrmann’s Gatsbystruggled with critics for its bombastic style, which many found to be overwhelming and excessive. Despite the film’s lukewarm reception with professional film critics, audiences have taken to the new Gatsby kindly, helping to push it past $100 million at the domestic box office, making it an unlikely hit.

Warner Bros. announced Friday that Luhrmann’s adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel crossed the $100 million mark after 14 days of release. This makes The Great Gatsby the first of Luhrmann’s films to pass the milestone in America.

While his previous efforts have been mostly well-received, and many of them box office hits in their own right, his highest grossing film prior to Gatsby was Moulin Rouge which took home $57.4 million during its theatrical run in 2001.

The film is a big success for it’s star, Leonardo DiCaprio. It is the eighth film starring DiCaprio to earn over $100 million in the States.

Surprisingly, The Great Gatsby managed to survive a summer full of stiff “costumed” competition. Pushed off of its initial release date until May 2013, Gatsby was directly competing with the box office blockbuster Iron Man 3 as well as Star Trek Into Darkness.

Man of Steel, Zack Snyder’s Superman reboot, will release in early June.

The Great Gatsby also took home $64.4 million internationally, as well.

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