Tops at the Box Office: 'Man of Steel' Breaks June Records With Super $125M Debut

1. Man of Steel- $113M/$125M
And so the questions have now been answered: Superman is definitely back and Warner Bros. has a powerful superhero franchise on their hands. Zack Snyder's Man of Steel opened on late Thursday night with a whopping $12M, setting the stage for an incredible $44M Friday, all of it setting the stage for a record-breaking opening weekend. The $113M has it leaping in a single bound over Toy Story 3 for the June opening weekend red, but it gets even better if you factor in the $12M from Thursday's midnight screenings. Including the full $125M into the mix moves it just behind The Hunger Games for the second best opening weekend of all-time. While analyst projections were always strong, this surpasses most of them by a fairly wide margin, and the 'A-' Cinemascore suggests that fans were more than satisfied by the film and could boost it with repeat viewings. It's certainly everything Warner Bros. had been hoping for, and easily outpaces the $52M debut of 2006's Superman Returns, and the $53M by another franchise-starter, Green Lantern. It's also another win for Christopher Nolan, even though it doesn't beat The Dark Knight's $158M or The Dark Knight Rises' $160M. This was a tough film to gauge, as superhero origin stories traditionally don't do numbers on this scale, as evidence by the $48M opening haul of Batman Begins. Throw in an additional $70M overseas and the film is already approaching $200M. With Snyder and Nolan already prepping the sequel, they've got a solid foundation that could have them finally providing Marvel with some legitimate competition.

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Tops At the Box Office: 'The Purge' Invades #1 While 'The Internship' Stumbles

1. The Purge- $36.4M
And the first box office shocker of the summer goes to The Purge, with the horror film slicing and dicing its way past what should've been a clear-cut winner in The Internship. To say that it simply fared better than the Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn comedy is an understatement, doubling its total and tripling it on a per-site basis. Its the latest micro-budget hit for Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions, the studio behind Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Sinister. Its $3M budget is astonishingly on the high side for them, but that was earned back quickly during a red hot $16M Friday debut. The Purge is basically helping to lead the charge of unexpected hits that don't fit into the normal summer mold, and you can throw The Great Gatsby in that mix as well. The 'C' Cinemascore suggests not everybody who attended was satisfied, but enough showed up that the debut is now the highest-grossing for an R-rated film that isn't a sequel or remake. Wait, what? Who keeps track of stats like that? Ugh.

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Review: 'The Internship', starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson

A lot has changed in the eight years since Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn crashed their last wedding.  It's pretty amazing that they've waited this long to get back together, considering the way that film barreled its way into the cultural zeitgeist (remember when wedding crashing was a serious thing for a while?) and set a new standard for R-rated comedy. But now the duo is back, and they're no longer the young, hip dudes who swept bridesmaids off their feet with a slick line or Wilson's "Aw shucks" charm. They're older, less cool, and much less raunchy in the PG-13 rated The Internship, a comfortable and surprisingly funny workplace comedy that succeeds only on the charms of its two stars.

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The Must-See Movies of June

June 7th

The Internship
Director: Shawn Levy
Cast: Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, Max Minghella, Rose Byrne, John Goodman

Remember when Google was just a search engine? Now entire moves are being based around them and set at their corporate headquarters.  The Internet giant is at the center of The Internship, which reunites Wedding Crashers duo Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in a story that their fans will recognize as very familiar. They play two unemployed salesmen who take an internship at the tech firm, where they must compete opposite younger, savvier competition. In true Old School/Dodgeball/Drillbit Taylor fashion, they become mentors to a geeky group of losers. The PG-13 rating is a concern because they're best when able to cut loose, but for those looking for a comfortable time at the movies this is probably for you.

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'The Internship' advance screening

The Wedding Crashers Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are back in The Internship, a new comedy that has them causing Google all sorts of headaches. Directed by Shawn Levy, the duo play two newly-unemployed guys attempting to start at the bottom as interns at the tech firm, only to run into competition from savvy upstarts. We want you to see the film early by attending an advance screening, held on Tuesday June 4th at 7:00pm at a Washington, DC theater.

To qualify, you MUST be a fan of Punch Drunk Critics on Facebook, so if you haven't "Liked" us yet please go there and do so now. To win, simply leave a comment here with your name, favorite Vince Vaughn or Owen Wilson movie, and a method of online contact (email, Facebook, Twitter). If we can't reach you, we'll move on to the next reader, so those of you on Twitter make sure you're following @punchycritic now. Winners will be selected and notified on Sunday June 2nd.

Good luck! The Internship opens in theaters on June 7th.

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New posters for 'Ender's Game', 'The Smurfs 2', 'The Internship', and 'Maniac'

The latest poster for Gavin Hood's adaptation of Ender's Game puts stars Asa Butterfield and Harrison Ford in the spotlight. It's the complicated relationship between Ender Wiggin, here seen in his Battle Suit, and Colonel Graff that is the driving force of the story, which is set in a future where special kids are selected to attend Battle School. There they are trained from morning until night, enduring incredible hardships, to fight the threat of the Formics, bug-like aliens waging war against humanity. Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Moises Arias, and Abigail Breslin star when the film opens on November 1st.

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New trailer for 'The Internship' with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson

If there was ever any doubt that The Internship was merely Old School meets Wedding Crashers with a Google logo slapped on it, the newest trailer should put that to rest. Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn star as two middle-aged guys who lose their jobs and, faced with a nearly impenetrable job market, take on an entry level position at a tech firm where they get to compete against savvy college students.

The latest footage doesn't add much new to the equation, but does show that Vaughn and Wilson are dusting off their familiar roles. Vaughn is back as the lovable, mouthy blowhard, with Wilson as his laid back sidekick, and they get to train a group of losers to be winners.  Can you sense my antipathy towards this film? It just looks like pointless, artificial comedy by-product. Best case scenario there are a couple of decent laughs. Worst case scenario is it's The Watch. *shudder*

Directed by Shawn Levy, The Internship opens on June 7th.

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1st trailer for 'The Internship' with Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson

It's been a long time since Wedding Crashers, and many have been wondering when Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn would reunite on the big screen. Well, wonder no longer.  The duo is back and while The Internship promises the same old schtick we've come to expect from them, it's undeniably cool to see them together again.

Directed by Shawn Levy, the film has Vaughn and Wilson as two unemployed middle-aged guys who are too old for the current job market. Out of desperation, they accept an internship at Google, where they enter the "mental Hunger Games" against younger, smarter, and more savvy upstarts vying for the same job. The chemistry between the two is what works, and will make you smile if nothing else. It definitely appears as if an Old School/Dodgeball scenario will breakout, with the two older guys leading a group of less-qualified interns. Max Minghella, Dylan O'Brien, Rose Byrne, and Jessica Szohr co-star.

The Internship could be good for a chuckle or two. We'll find out when it opens on June 7th.

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1st look at Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in 'The Internship'

So people really are using those Google Hangout things, eh? This Wednesday, they'll be hosting the world premiere of the trailer for Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn's new comedy, The Internship, and in advance the first image have been released. Not surprisingly, it's Google-inspired, so don't ever let it be said that synergy is dead.

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Will Ferrell to cameo in 'The Internship', with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn

Owen Wilson. Vince Vaughn. Will Ferrell. The three have crossed paths so many times that it seems weird to have a film with two of them and not the third. Similar to when Ferrell popped up for a hilarious cameo as Chazz Reinhold in Wedding Crashers, he'll make a similar appearance in the workplace comedy, The Internship.

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John Goodman joins 'The Internship' with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn

The addition of John Goodman to any cast is always a good thing. Even when the movie may not be so good(*cough*Red State*cough*), he's always on point whether called on to play the funny guy, the tough guy, or in the case of The Big Lebowski, both.

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Sure Shots: Oscar Isaac; Cloris Leachman; Rose Byrne

* Oscar Isaac is set to join Viggo Mortensen in The Two Faces of January, an adaptation of Patricia Highsmith's novel about a con artist, his wife, and a stranger attempting to flee Athens after they get caught up in the murder of a police officer. We first learned about the film about a year ago when Mortensen came aboard, but this is the first new information since. Isaac will be re-teaming with Drive writer, Hossein Amini, who will pen the script and make his directorial debut. Production is set to begin around the end of the year. [Variety]

* Maybe Cloris Leachman(The Last Picture Show) didn't see the hilariously awful photos from Raging Bull 2, otherwise it's hard to believe she'd sign up to be a party to such madness. The film is a 1-2 combo prequel/sequel to Martin Scorsese's classic 1980 boxing drama, with William Forsythe as an older Jake LaMotta. Newcomer Mojean Aria will play LaMotta the younger version of the middleweight champ. Penelope Ann Miller, Joe Mantegna, Natasha Henstridge, Tom Sizemore, and Paul Sorvino co-star, with Leachman playing the mother of Miller's character. Martin Guigui wrote the script and is directing. [Deadline]

* The multi-talented Rose Byrne(Bridesmaids) has joined Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in the workplace comedy, The Internship. Directed by Shawn Levy, the film centers on two middle-aged guys who get downsized out of their jobs, and are forced to compete with young and ambitious upstarts at a successful tech firm. Also joining the film is Joanna Garcia, who some may recognize from the WB sitcom, Reba.  The Vince Vaughn-scripted comedy co-stars Max Minghella and Dylan O'Brien, with production set to begin shortly. Byrne can be seen next in the final season of her TV series, Damages. [EW/Deadline]

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Sure Shots: Casey Affleck; Ryan Phillippe; 'The Internship'

* Much like his older brother, Casey Affleck isn't content to merely ply his trade in front of the camera. He also has taken up the directorial reins, with his first film being the controversial Joaquin Phoenix mockumentary, I'm Still Here. Now he'll turn his sights to one of sports' great success stories in a biopic on Texas Rangers slugger, Josh Hamilton.  Affleck will write and direct the film, which is still being shopped around now. So if it happens, it'll chronicle Hamilton's struggle with drug and alcohol addiction, which threatened to derail his MLB career before a family intervention set him back on the right path. [Deadline]

* Having spent much of his career working with some of the best directors in the business, Ryan Phillippe is taking what he's learned and putting it to good use. Phillippe is set to make his directorial debut with the indie thriller, Shreveport. He'll co-write, produce, direct, and star in the Louisiana-set story about a washed up actor who is kidnapped from the set of his latest film, held hostage and tortured for mysterious reasons. Production is set to begin this summer. [Variety]

* I've never seen a moment of MTV's Teen Wolf series, and chances are I never will. Apparently it's making an impression on somebody, because one of the show's stars is about to step into the big leagues. Dylan O'Brien is joining Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson in The Internship, the upcoming workplace comedy directed by Shawn Levy. The Wedding Crashers duo play two middle aged men recently downsized from their longtime jobs, who join at the entry level in a tech firm. O'Brien will play a young intern they'll be working alongside, with Max Minghella as a colleague who tries to hinder their advancement. Filming is set to begin tomorrow. [Variety]

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Sure Shots: Reese Witherspoon; Cobie Smulders; Max Minghella

* Those hoping Lionsgate learned their lesson after the flop that was What to Expect When You're Expecting are in for a rude awakening. In the works for a couple of years now but presumed dead, they still have plans on adapting John Gray's ridiculous book/psycho-babble about gender differences, Men are From Mars, Women are from Venus. With a script by female-centric writers, Deborah Kaplan and Harry Elfont(Leap Year, Made of Honor), they've now landed Reese Witherspoon to star in what will no doubt be a powerhouse look at male/female relationships. Pfft!! Commercials director, Bryan Buckley, has also been brought on to helm when production begins next January. [Deadline]

* A big day for Cobie Smulders, as she's added her second project in the span of a day. Next up for her is a leading role in Safe Haven, an adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel which already has Julianne Hough and Josh Duhamel starring. Hough plays a troubled woman looking to start over in a small North Carolina town, but even as she tries to keep to herself, the community looks at her suspiciously, including a neighbor played by Smulders. Lasse Hallstrom will direct based on a script by Dana Stevens and Les Bohem. [Variety]

* The Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson workplace comedy, The Internship, may be adding a touch of youthful energy in Max Minghella. The Social Network co-star is in talks to join the film, which has Wilson and Vaughn as two middle aged guys recently downsized out of their jobs and forced to start at the entry level for a major tech firm. Minghella will play an ambitious intern hoping to derail the guys' attempts at advancement. Vaughn wrote the script, with Shawn Levy(Night at the Museum)  directing. Production kicks off this summer. [Variety]

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