THIS WEEKEND'S BOX-OFFICE: 6/14/2013

After years of anticipation from comic book fans, director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel flies into theaters on this Father's Day weekend. Also opening is the apocalyptic comedy, This Is the End. I still have to watch Will's Smith's After Earth, this is my 3rd attempt and if it doesn't happen this week well...Not to mention that I want to see both Man of Steel & This Is the End.

Man of Steel

PROS:

- The still-popular appeal of the comic book movie genre as a whole.

- Christopher Nolan's producing credit, which may help to convince undecided moviegoers and/or fans.

- The film's marketing campaign has closely followed the style established by Warner Bros.' success with Nolan's Dark Knight films.

- The ensemble cast of veteran actors and actresses.

- Twitter activity has been consistently strong, running significantly ahead of The Amazing Spider-Man at the same comparable points.

- The potential for general audiences to embrace a more clear-cut superhero than recent movies have delivered.

- Father's Day should help result in a muted Sunday drop from Saturday's grosses.

CONS:

- Zack Snyder's critical and box office performances have declined in the last few years.

- Early reviews aren't as strong as Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy, The Avengers, or the first Iron Man.

- Superman Returns virtually killed the franchise seven years ago.

- The Superman character doesn't have the same cultural relevance that he did in decades of old. Can this film turn that around?

This Is the End

PROS:

- Early word of mouth is very enthusiastic, which should help give the film strong legs.

- Critical reactions have been quite healthy for the comedic genre.

- Flixster's volume of voters and anticipation percentage are on par with Ted pre-release.

- Facebook activity has been strong for an original film.

- The disappointing word of mouth and box office runs of The Hangover Part III and The Internship may have audiences hungry for an entertaining comedy.

CONS:

- Opening against Man of Steel will be a big challenge, although, the two films are catering toward somewhat different audiences.

- Interest among women is still in question.

- The Apatow crew haven't had as much box office success lately as they did at their peak between 2007 and 2008.