Iron Man 3 Expected to Top 2013 Summer Movies, Says Box Office Analyst

While enthusiasm for Man of Steel is running hot, a noted box office analyst expects that film to make only about 2/3 of what Iron Man 3 takes in domestically, in a new report that plots out which movies are expected to be big hits and big flops this summer. Cowen and Co's Doug Creutz says Man of Steel should make around $220 million this summer in the U.S., compared to $350 for Iron Man 3. Further, Creutz expects Monsters University, Star Trek Into Darkness, Despicable Me 2 and The Hangover Part III to outperform the Zack Snyder-directed Superman reboot. You'll note that he expects all of the top five films to be sequels, which is more or less standard operating procedure these days. Franchises like Harry Potter, Twilight and The Dark Knight all saw their biggest box office numbers for the later installments, which could build on the goodwill of beloved earlier movies, as Iron Man 3 is able to do with Iron Man and The Avengers. Creutz is predicting several high-profile, big-budget bombs in what he calls "the most crowded release slate in recent memory," saying that The Lone Ranger and World War Z are strong candidates to underperform. Both of those films faced production delays in response to ballooning budgets and reports of script problems, so it's debatable whether the studios actually expect big things from them...but certainly being based on wildly popular source material and costing close to $100 million or more to make, you don't get a lot of benefit of the doubt if the film doesn't live up to expectations. Just ask Man of Steel director Zack Snyder. He can tell you all about Watchmen.