By NICOLE COOKE (digitalBURG) – One of the most anticipated movies of the summer premiered last night with midnight showings all over the country, including Carmike Cinemas in Warrensburg.  Some lucky Warrensburg residents even got the chance to see the movie five hours before everyone else, thanks to a promotion with Wal-Mart and Carmike.
For the week before the movie was released, presale tickets were sold at Wal-Mart for a special showing of “Man of Steel” at 7 p.m. Thursday. A total of 150 tickets to the 2-D showing were available, and all of them were sold.
Other than the midnight showing and a large souvenir “Man of Steel” plastic cup available for a limited time at the concession stand, there aren’t any other big promotions for the new Superman installment. However, finding a seat shouldn’t be a problem, as there are three theaters reserved for the movie this weekend. General Manager Erick Crank said two are for the 2-D showing and one is for the 3-D version, and all three are in Carmike’s larger houses.
Carmike had presales for the midnight showing available online for two weeks prior to the premiere. Exact numbers weren’t yet available, but Crank said the turnout looked promising.
“What it looks like so far with presales, people are definitely interested,” he said.
“We should definitely have a good turnout this weekend. ‘Ironman 3′ did incredibly well, so I’m hoping another big superhero movie will do well for us.”
According to Forbes.com, the film grossed $21 million yesterday, with $9 million coming from midnight showings and $12 million from advance screenings sponsored by Wal-Mart.
Recent UCM graduate Josh Leonard and his friends helped contribute to that $9 million after they saw the film at midnight in 3-D.
“I knew about the showing Wal-Mart was doing, but I wanted my first-time experience, because I know I’m seeing this movie multiple times, to be in IMAX 3-D,” he said.
Leonard anxiously awaiting the release of “Man of Steel” for months now, with lots of tweeting, Facebook posts and viewing the trailer dozens of times.
“My girlfriend and friends know how much I’ve been waiting in anticipation and just pure excitement for ‘Man of Steel,’” he said. “They’re a little annoyed with how many times I watch the same trailer for the film over and over again though.”
Even Crank said he has been looking forward to watching the movie.
“I want to see it. I tried to watch it last night (Wednesday),” he said. “I tested it this morning (Thursday) for picture and sound to make sure it goes well for tonight, so I’ve seen about 30 minutes of it. I plan on watching it right after this weekend.”
For Leonard, being a Superman fan isn’t anything new, so his excitement for “Man of Steel” doesn’t come as a big surprise.
“I am a huge Superman fan. Always have been since I was very little. I’m actually the biggest Superman fan I know,” he said. “I’m excited to see this movie because, in a way, and being a super nerd, I feel that I’ve been waiting for this exact film to be made my entire life. I feel that this is going to be how a live-action Superman film should be made.
While Leonard said “Man of Steel” was his No. 1 movie of the summer, it’s just one in a lineup of big blockbusters for the summer movie season. “Fast and the Furious 6” and “The Purge” did well nationally, as well as locally. The last two movies Carmike did promotions for, “The Great Gatsby” and “Star Trek: Into Darkness,” also did well.
Promotions for “Star Trek” included a costume contest, with prizes being awarded to the top three participants with the “best effort.” Crank said he didn’t know yet what other promotions would be held throughout the rest of the summer, but to be on the lookout for something soon.
Overall, the summer movie season has been a success in Warrensburg so far.
“It’s going pretty well for us. If you read the news it says the industry is typically down. It’s only by a couple percent, but since ‘Ironman 3’ we’ve been doing really well,” Crank said. “The big action movies, like the big superhero ones, do really well here.”
To help beat the summer boredom, and the summer heat, Carmike offers a summer movie series for kids every Thursday at 10 a.m. Paying just $4 gets kids a ticket and a kid’s snack tray. Crank said so far the program is going well. Next week’s movie is “The Smurfs.”
For show times at Carmike, visit Carmike.com. Click here for a review of “Man of Steel.”