Man of Steel mania is in full force. Every day, some times more than once a day, there are new clips from Warner Bros., new cast interviews, new partnerships revealed, and television ads. The studio is pushing full force ahead on this last weekend before the much anticipated remake opens worldwide on June 14.
But what are the expectations at the box office? Forbes had an interesting article, about this element of film promotion. When a blockbuster such as Man of Steel is ready to hit theaters, there are expectations of how well it will do on opening weekend.
Big films usually open on Fridays, that way they have the weekend crowds to flock to the theaters and watch them. In this case the official word from Warner Bros. is that it expects the movie to make $75 million, which seems like a conservative figure compared to recent estimates for other blockbusters.
Iron Man 3 for example, had estimates of $160 million, but ended up making $175 million on opening weekend. The competition has a hand on the numbers that get floated around.
On the other hand, Universal can say that it expects Man of Steel to open at $100 million so if it does not, they can put it down saying it was a failure, even if the numbers approach the figure or it does very well.
A lot of politics are involved in box office expectations. Warner Bros. is in its final push before one of the most anticipated summer blockbusters opens next Friday. Everyone else is trying to up the numbers in case the movie does not do well. It’s a game of cat and mouse.
With a budget of around $225 million the expectations are high indeed and with relatively unknown British actor Henry Cavill in his first lead role, the studio has a lot riding on this first weekend.
The good news is that everyone from director Zack Snyder to the producers and writers, to the cast, which includes Amy Adams, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, and Diane Lane is top notch. Will you be going to see the film when it opens next weekend?
The latest Man of Steel TV Spot can be seen here: