Superman flies despite mixed reviews

Superman blockbuster Man of Steel soared to the top of the North American box office this weekend, scoring a US$113-million (NZ$140m) opening despite mixed reviews.

The Zach Snyder-directed movie stars British actor Henry Cavill as the iconic superhero, with Oscar-nominated actress Amy Adams playing Daily Planet journalist Lois Lane in a cast that also includes Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.

The movie is the latest attempt to build a money-spinning franchise around the planet Krypton's most famous son, and follows a 2006 reboot by Warner Bros - Superman Returns - which ultimately stalled after one film.

Snyder's movie has divided critics however, scoring a modest 56 percent rating on the movie review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, with many complaining of an over-reliance on computer-generated imagery against plot.

Meanwhile another new film, This Is The End, a comedy starring James Franco and Jonah Hill, opened in second place with $20.5 million, figures from the industry tracker Exhibitor Relations showed.

Sleeper hit Now You See Me, about an FBI agent and an Interpol detective who hunt down a team of illusionists performing bank heists during their shows, held on to third place with $10.3 million.

Action sequel Fast & Furious 6, starring Vin Diesel and Michelle Rodriguez, added another $9.4 million, taking its outright haul to $219.5 million and positioning it in fourth place.

Low-budget horror film The Purge - which scored a surprisingly strong opening last week to top the box office - fell to fifth place with $8.2 million.

However, the $3 million Universal feature starring Ethan Hawke and Game of Thrones star Lena Headey has now earned a total of $51.8 million, with a sequel already in the works, according to industry reports.

In sixth place was the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson comedy The Internship, which sees the Wedding Crashers co-stars competing with tech-savvy wizards after scoring an internship at Google. The film took $7 million.

In seventh spot was animated film Epic with $6 million, just ahead of Star Trek: Into Darkness with $5.7 million, which has earned $210.5 million so far.

Another science-fiction offering, the critically-savaged Will Smith vehicle After Earth was ninth with $3.7 million.

Superhero sequel Iron Man 3 rounded out the top 10 with $2.9 million in its seventh week, for a total of $399.6 million since its release in May.

- AFP