Man of Steel tops UK box office

Dominating all competition, Man of Steel scored an outstanding UK debut to knock After Earth off the top spot after just one week.

Warner Bros’ 3D reboot soared to $17.6m (£11.2m) from its 573 sites, resulting in a mighty average of $30,578 (£19,457). That result is 2013’s second biggest three-day weekend, narrowly behind Iron Man 3’s $17.9m (£11.4m) result.

It is also director Zack Snyder’s best-ever UK debut by some distance, topping 300’s $7.5m (£4.7m), and will become Snyder’s biggest ever UK result in the near future, currently a record also belonging to 300 at $22.3m (£14.2m).

Previous Superman outing, Superman Returns, pales in comparison, with Man of Steel taking more than double its $6.8m (£4.3m) debut. That film peaked at $25.3m (£16.1m) so expect Man of Steel to fly past that if not this week, then definitely next weekend.

Father’s Day on Sunday arguably aided Man of Steel, with Sunday ($5.7m/£3.6m) recording a bigger result than Friday ($5.3m/£3.4m).

Also for Warner Bros, The Hangover Part III is up to $28.2m (£18m), still around £4m away from The Hangover’s $33.4m (£22.1m).

The Great Gatsby has waltzed to a strong $23.1m (£14.7m).

Sony

Last week’s champion After Earth fell to second as a result of Man of Steel’s chart-topping debut.

Sony’s sci-fi added a non-final $1.9m (£1.2m) for a ten-day running total of $7.5m (£4.8m) and will at least overtake director M. Night Shyamalan’s previous feature, The Last Airbender, which capped at $7.9m (£5.02m) in the UK.

Fox

Holding firm in fourth was Fox’s 3D animation Epic, which rose 29% in its fourth weekend to gross $1.3m (£851,186).

The latest 3D animation from Blue Sky Studios is now up to $19.3m (£12.3m) as it attempts to catch Blue Sky’s previous original feature, Rio, which flew to $20.7m (£13.6m).

eOne

Steven Soderbergh’s HBO drama Behind the Candelabra continued its outstanding theatrical start in the UK through eOne.

The Liberace biopic rose 21% on last weekend after expanding to 244 sites, resulting in a $974,000 (£619,592) weekend which puts the film on a healthy $2.6m (£1.6m) after ten days in play.

Universal

Dropping just 30% in its fifth weekend, Universal’s Fast & Furious 6 added $929,000 (£571,000). The sixth instalment in the evergreen franchise has now raced to $38.4m (£24.4m) and will cross the £25m mark in the coming days.

Also for Universal, The Purge has scared up a solid $4.8m (£3.1m) after a $533,000 (£339,000) weekend.

Results for Tina Fey comedy Admission were unavailable at the time of writing.

Paramount

Sci-fi sequel Star Trek Into Darkness phased past the £25m barrier in its sixth weekend after it added $643,000 (£409,253) for $39.7m (£25.2m) to date through Paramount.

Lionsgate

In its second weekend, Lionsgate’s The Iceman added $107,000 (£68,000) from its 135 sites for $744,000 (£473,000) to date.

Kaleidoscope

In a limited release of 64 sites, Joss Whedon’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing took $106,000 (£67,533) on its opening weekend.

Picturehouse

Playing in 43 sites on its second weekend, Picturehouse’s The Stone Roses: Made of Stone grossed $44,000 (£27,881) for $738,000 (£469,449) to date. Unsurprisingly, the top site for the weekend was Manchester Cornerhouse.

StudioCanal

Horror sequel The Last Exorcism Part II fell heavily in its second weekend, grossing $25,000 (£15,646) for $390,000 (£248,266) to date through StudioCanal.

Byzantium is up to $375,000 (£238,950).

Upcoming releases

This week sees saturation releases for Paramount’s World War Z, eOne’s Snitch and Vertigo’s A Haunted House (opens June 19).

Vertigo will also give a wide release to Spike Island, while Kaleidoscope’s The Seasoning House and Sony’s Before Midnight are among the films receiving a limited release.