Bryan Singer's Superman Returns cruised to an easy victory at the Fourth of July weekend box office with an estimated Friday-to-Sunday total of $52.1 million, the third largest Independence Day opening in history.  Superman Returns' five-day total of $84.2 million is a considerable improvement over Batman Begins' 5-day cumulative of $72.8 million, but given the enormous $260 million cost of the new Man of Steel epic, the fact that its five-day total is only good enough for thirtieth place all-time could insure that the sequel to Superman Returns will be made on a far less elaborate scale.

Superman Returns' July Fourth weekend performance pales when compared with Spider-Man 2's $88.2 million, and its five-day total is far behind two previously released 2006 blockbusters, X-Men: The Last Stand ($130.1 million) and The Da Vinci Code ($92 million).  But it is still far too early to draw any conclusions about Superman Returns' final box office tally.  If it can emulate Batman Begins, which did only 35% of its cumulative during its first five days, or better yet The Fellowship of the Ring, which earned only 23.9% of its eventual $314 million in its first five box office sessions, Superman Returns will be regarded as a major success.  If on the other hand, the new Superman film doesn't hold up against a stronger than usual mid-summer film slate that includes Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men's Chest, there may be major changes in store for the Man of Steel's film franchise before a sequel to Superman Returns takes flight.