You're absolutely right, but that's also because everyone SR didn't offer anything new. It looked cheesy. Superman himself looked cheesy. The costume looked cheesy. The trailer was cheesy (bullet in the eye?). Kevin Spacey's Lex looked cheesy. It even had the old 70's score. Everyone knew what they were gonna get before they even headed into the theater. An old fashioned, campy, Saturday morning cartoon style Superman riding the coattails of a 30 year old movie.... and all this in the midst of superhero genre that was changing and evolving right before everyone's eyes. And yet despite all that... the movie STILL made a decent amount of money despite the fact that word of mouth was horrible. Why? Because it's Superman.
This time it's different. People didn't know what to expect with Begins because it was such a drastically different approach to the genre, and while the superhero genre was definitely in full gear... the only superhero with a colossal hit was Spiderman. But that was then and this is now. As crazy as it sounds, the genre is even MORE popular now. The bar has been raised and the audience has expanded. Batman grossed bil. Iron Man grossed a bil. Avengers grossed a bil. Lesser known characters like Cap and Thor are in their own successful franchises. The world is finally ready again for Superman. And this time they know it's going to be done right. It looks new. It looks fresh. It looks awe inspiring. It looks what everyone has been waiting for. And it has Nolan's name on it. I'm sorry, I just don't see how this thing has any chance of under performing. And if it's good? Forget it. Wait til people get a whiff of the action... which the trailers and TV spots have only briefly hinted at. People are going to be floored.
I'm not predicting Avengers numbers but I think the people being conservative with their predictions are in for a pleasant surprise.
What do you think the numbers for MOS Opening weekend will be ?