Superman retains number one spot in UK box office

The DC superhero franchise made a solid £4.8m in Britain, ahead of Jurassic World’s £3.2m - although the Scarlett Johansson-led blockbuster has been out for another week.

F1 made another £1.2m in its fourth week, just ahead of Smurfs, which proved to be the highest new entry last weekend. I Know What You Did Last Summer, a revival of the horror franchise, was the fifth highest on these shores.

Rihanna heads an all star cast for Smurfs and the film took a healthy $37m worldwide, to make a good start against its $57m budget. The film was perhaps not expected to make as much of a dent as other child-oriented releases with the Belgian franchise not so established in the UK.

Worldwide, Superman has continued its stranglehold, but I Know What You Did Last Summer was a disappointment - making less domestically ($14m) than it did upon its 1997 release ($15.3m) even not considering inflation.

The Man of Steel has now taken $235 million domestically and $406.8 million worldwide, inching closer to its break even point against a $225m budget.

The DC comics reboot (the third such re-up since 2006) stars the unheralded David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, with Guardians of the Galaxy’s James Gunn directing.

Gunn’s effort to reboot the franchise takes the character back to its comic book roots while also venturing into political waters. Rachel Brosnahan co-stars as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, with Superman needing to convince the world he is their protector.

Read also: Superman Returns: Actor David Corenswet reveals aims for 'new generation' reboot

Critics have been broadly supportive, giving it an 83 per cent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and US audiences have lapped it up, with $155m of the gross $261m coming from America.

Another Fantastic flop?

Superman will have box office competition this weekend from Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Movieweb has predicted Marvel’s latest could get around $110m domestically, which, if translated across the pond, might see it go toe to toe with the Man of Steel, in its second week of release.

While Superman has been DC’s shining light with a history of success, Fantastic Four has previously failed to get off the ground, with three mainstream releases having underperformed at the box office.

Fantastic Four (2005) and Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) delivered underwhelming returns to the point that a planned 2009 threequel was cancelled.

Fantastic Four (2015) was an undisputed critical failure (rated 9 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes) and tanked at the box office, making $167m off a $120m budget. Those three efforts did, at least, get released. In 1994, a German-made effort was financed and filmed, but it never saw the light of day.

Since 2015, Fantastic Four characters have popped up here and there in other Marvel universe films, with last year’s Deadpool & Wolverine even mocking the failure of previous efforts.

Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach have all signed for this latest Fantastic Four, and to be in two upcoming Avengers films, so this new foursome is here to stay for at least a little while.

Robert Downey Jr will also return in the next two Avengers films, confusingly not as Iron Man, but as Dr Doom - a classic Fantastic Four comic book villain. He may have a small role in First Steps as well, although Marvel has not given too much away.