The box office for “Man of Steel” is going to be confusing. The Superman movie took in $12 million Thursday night at 7pm thanks to a WalMart promotion. It was a special screening sold through Wal Mart stores as part of a larger deal. Ticket buyers got a digital comic book and some other promo stuff including a way to order the DVD, which will come out in the fall.
Then, at midnight, “Man of Steel” took in a healthy $9 million at regular sneak screenings. That $9 mil be counted toward Friday’s box office, says BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Warner Bros. is hoping for big numbers abroad. In the US, reviews are lukewarm, and after an initial Friday night burst, who knows? The studio has certainly tied “MOS” into dozens of products, has placements in the film from Sears and others, is in deals with WalMart, Gillette, and many others.
As for those reviews, I don’t often agree with Manola Dhargis in the New York Times. But she’s right. The last 45 minutes is tiresome and awful. “MOS” is a big set up with little payoff.
