This summer, the box office appears to be back, as it remains financially healthy thanks to the performance of “Sinners”, “Lilo and Stitch”, “How to Train Your Dragon”, “Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning”, “28 Years Later”, “F1: The Movie”, and “Jurassic World Rebirth”.

According to Forbes, ticket sales are up 16 percent from this same time last year but still trailing pre-pandemic levels. However, thanks to all of you heading to the big screen this summer, the comeback continues! This past weekend saw another big blockbuster that drew the butts to the seats, DC Studios and Warner Brothers’ “Superman” led the way. That’s right: it was a bird, it was a plane, it was Superman followed by raining Buco Delores as the film opened number one with $122 million domestically over the weekend, and almost another hundred million from foreign markets.

Here at home, that’s the third biggest opening of the year. This was the second biggest opening overall for a Superman film behind “Batman Vs. Superman”, which pulled in 166 million bucks its opening weekend. The news was good for DC Studios, as director James Gunn is also the co-head of the whole operation, so they needed this to be a winner. Rounding out the top five were the previous week’s releases of big-time summer blockbuster-esque films. “Jurassic World Rebirth” was the top dog last week and came in second place with 40 million big ones. In its third week of release, “F1:The Movie” delivered $13 million at the gate. And, rounding out the top five, were kid flicks “How to Train Your Dragon”, which came in with close to $8 million, and Pixar’s Elio, which added another $4 million to its total and landed in fifth place.

“Superman” is expected to top the charts again next week, as there will be no real competition until the “Fantastic Four: First Steps” hits the big screen July 25. Keep going to the movies folks – it’s working!

Speaking of high-flying blockbuster movies – Do I recommend “Superman”? Sort of. As a video, it rocks, but as a movie? I guess to me it was just OK. First the good: James Gunn keeps the action and story moving along nicely. The film relies on what we already know about Superman, his adoptive parents in Kansas, Lois Lane, and Lex Luthor, who in this installment resembles a certain billionaire. That’s all fine, as it allowed Gunn to get right to the bells and whistles, i.e. action, music, and some stunning effects. They even introduce a character that looks like it stumbled into the wrong movie from the Jurassic Park world.

There were a few other tangential issues I had, including a couple Daily Planet reporters who didn’t even need to be in the movie. And with a total of maybe five lines, actor Wendell Pierce as Perry White had absolutely nothing to do in the film. Pierce is a great actor though, and deserves the residual checks coming his way! The main players, David Corenswet and Rachel Brosnahan are great as Superman and Lois, respectively.

Recently on Nite Lite, Madison film critic and frequent guest Rob Thomas mentioned that we hardly see Clark Kent in this movie at all. Thomas also mentioned that he liked the film, while adding that it was like a “Guardians of the Galaxy” (also directed by Gunn) version of “Superman”, which I thought was spot on. There is definitely enough cinematic energy in this movie to make the theater going experience more fun than watching it at home so for that reason, check it out and give yourself a fun summer movie going experience. See you at the movies!

Editor’s note: For more movie and entertainment talk, join host Pete Schwaba weeknights from 6 to 8 p.m. for Nite Lite on the Civic Media radio network.

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