‘Man Of Steel’ Earns Around $50 Million On Friday

Zack Synder’s Man of Steel proved to be quite popular at the box office on Friday.

Despite getting a critical lashing from reviewers, the cinematic reboot of the legendary comic book superhero is off to a strong start on opening day.

According to Variety, Snyder’s Man of Steel earned around $50 million at the box office in just one day of release. This reportedly included the $21 million the flick generated from midnight screenings and Walmart’s exclusive 7 pm screenings.

Although analysts believed the flick could make around $90 million, it would appear this figure has been upgraded a bit. Industry insiders now predict Man of Steel could pull in $125 million this weekend. Warner Bros. expectations were a bit lower; the studio predicted the film would earn about $80 million.

Business Insider reports Synder’s superhero epic accounted for 85 percent of all ticket sales over at Fandango. This could help the film post the largest opening weekend for June, or, better yet, one of the biggest weekend of the year.

News that Man of Steel is soaring at the box office is certainly good news for the executives at Warner Bros. A lot is currently riding on Snyder’s reboot, particularly the entire Justice League franchise. If Superman failed to connect with audiences, then the studio could scrap plans for the proposed superhero epic.

While audiences have responded by venturing to theaters and opening their wallets, critics haven’t been quite so friendly towards the picture. The 300 director’s latest big screen endeavor only has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 57 percent, a fact which shocked the website’s editor.

“As much as I love and respect our critics at Rotten Tomatoes, I’ve got to say I am shocked. Listen, the movie’s not perfect but … I just cannot fathom it. It was a good movie, you guys,” Gray Drake explained to the folks at Fox Business News.

He added, “[‘Man of Steel’ is] definitely the film to see, because finally Superman is back and he’s going to do big business.”

If you’re interested in reading a review of the flick before heading off to the cinema, then be sure to check out The Inquisitr film critic Niki Cruz’s thoughts on Superman’s latest adventure.

Did you catch Man of Steel in theaters on opening day? Are you surprised by the negative reviews Zack Snyder’s reboot has received from critics?