‘Man of Steel’ Takes Flight With $125 Million Debut

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Man of Steel” leaped over box office expectations in a single weekend.

The Warner Bros. superhero file earned $113 million in its opening weekend at the box office, according to studio estimates Sunday.  The retelling of Superman’s back story earned an additional $12 million from Thursday screenings, bringing its domestic total to $125 million.  Original box-office expectations for “Man of Steel” ranged from $75 million to $130 million.

“They finally got the Superman formula right,” said Paul Dergarabedian, an analyst for box-office tracker Hollywood.com.  “Superhero movies really are the bread and butter of the summer box office.  The fact that ‘Iron Man 3’ has the biggest opening of the year so far and ‘Man of Steel’ has the second biggest opening of the year just proves that.”

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/605571/Man-of-Steel-takes-flight-with-$125M-debut

Blockbuster To Close About 300 Stores In U.S.

Blockbuster said it will close about 300 of its U.S. stores in the coming weeks, thinning the once ubiquitous video rental chain’s bricks-and-mortar presence.

The closures will result in the loss of about 3,000 jobs and leave the company with about 500 stores in the nation, said John Hall, a spokesman for parent company Dish Network Corp. in Englewood, Colo.

Last week, Blockbuster’s British unit entered into administration, a version of bankruptcy, and said it would close 160 stores there, according to the administrator, accounting and consulting firm Deloitte.

Read more:  http://www.mcall.com/business/la-fi-blockbuster-stores-20130122,0,3591989.story

Blockbuster Closing More Stores

Blockbuster Video plans to shutter all but one of its remaining Lehigh Valley stores in the coming days, according to several sources.

The beleaguered movie rental chain plans to cease rentals as early as Monday, Dec. 26, at stores at 2221 Lehigh St., Allentown; 2918 William Penn Highway, Palmer Township; and 756 Memorial Parkway, Phillipsburg, according to employees who answered the store phones Wednesday.

Liquidations are planned to start next week, according to the clerks.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-allentown-blockbuster-closing-more-stores-story-20111221,0,4779144.story

Blockbuster Is Lackluster – To Closer Nearly 1000 Stores!

Blockbuster is on track to close nearly 1000 stores due to poor sales and competition from Netflicks and Redbox by the end of next year!

Well no duh!  Who rents from Blockbuster anymore??  Redbox is everywhere and $1.00.  Okay, who didn’t see this coming???