‘Superman’ keeps up box office flex

NEW YORK James Gunn s Superman indicated staying power in its second weekend at North American box offices collecting million in ticket sales and remaining the No movie in cinemas according to studio estimates Sunday None of the week s new releases I Know What You Did Last Summer Smurfs and Eddington came close to touching Warner Bros and DC Studios superhero success Superman dipped from its domestic opening an average decline for a big summer film In two weeks Superman has grossed million worldwide a good start for the movie DC Studios is banking on to restart its movie operations A big test looms next weekend when the Walt Disney Co releases Marvel s The Fantastic Four First Strategies Strong audience scores and good reviews should help propel the million-budgeted Superman toward profitability in the coming weeks For Warner Bros and DC Studios Superman is key to kicking off a -year plan for the comic book adaptation studio Co-heads Gunn and Peter Safra were tasked with rehabilitating the flagging operation Next on tap are the films Supergirl and Clayface in But Superman is far from flying solo in theaters right now Universal Pictures Jurassic World Rebirth came in second this weekend with million in its third week of release The seventh Jurassic movie this one starring Scarlett Johansson held its own despite the competition from Superman In three weeks it accrued million worldwide Apple Studios and Warner Bros F The Movie has also shown legs especially internationally In its fourth weekend the Brad Pitt racing drama dipped just domestically bringing in million in North America and another million overseas Its global total stands at million But both of the biggest new releases Sony Pictures I Know What You Did Last Summer and Paramount Pictures Smurfs fell flat I Know What You Did Last Summer opened with million a fair aftermath for a movie budgeted at a modest million but a disappointing opening for a well-known horror franchise The film directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson is set years after the original Teenagers played by Madelyn Cline and Chase Sui Wonders are again haunted for covering up a car accident The movie s reviews fresh on Rotten Tomatoes were poor for I Know What You Did Last Summer and audiences graded it similarly The film notched a C on CinemaScore The original collected million in its domestic run in Paramount Pictures Smurfs debuted in fourth place this weekend with million The latest big-screen reboot for the woodland blue creatures prominently features Rihanna as the voice of Smurfette But reviews fresh on Rotten Tomatoes were terrible Audiences were kinder giving it a B on CinemaScore but the million-budgeted release will depend largely on its international sales In overseas markets Smurfs earned million