Box Office Battlefield: ‘This Is The End’ and ‘Man of Steel’

The weekend warriors for June 14, 2013 includes This Is The End and Man of Steel. Box Office Battlefield is a recurring rundown of all the movie releases for the weekend. Every week, movie studios select candidates to enter the glorious battlefield for your hard earned dollars. Box Office Battlefield is here to help you decide which movie(s) will take priority over the others.

Last weekend, The Purge invaded the summer movie season with unexpected results while leaving Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson out to dry. After a weekend break from all the big budget blockbusters, Hollywood is ramping up June with Man of Steel. But don’t forget about the little guys in This Is The End. Sometimes we all need a little tummy tickler every once in awhile.

Can the last son of krypton fight the good fight to win the weekend or will the Apatow bunch survive the inevitable end? Kneel before Zod! This is the Box Office Battlefield:

Man of Steel (Rated PG-13) 143 min – (Directed by Zack Snyder) Starring Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, and Diane Lane

Synopsis: A young itinerant worker is forced to confront his secret extraterrestrial heritage when Earth is invaded by members of his race.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 57% • Audience – 82%

Everything is riding on the fate of Man of Steel. With Marvel Studios kicking ass and taking names in the film industry, DC Entertainment has been stuck in a sort of limbo with many of their projects. Will a Justice League movie happen anytime soon? Well that all depends on the success of MOS. Green Lantern was a terrible mess and The Dark Knight Rises was a huge disappointment, expectations are fairly low for DC projects these days – how about that Wonder Woman TV pilot that never was? Zack Snyder has had quite the task ahead of him and from all the buzz surrounding this movie, it appears as though he has stepped up to the challenge. Snyder is an incredible visual director and a proponent of slow motion cinematography, but there is a certain look based on the Man of Steel trailers that feels much different than his previous works. If you’re going to see one big summer blockbuster this year, make it Man of Steel. SEE IT!

This Is The End [Releases 6/12] (Rated R) 107 min – (Directed by Evan Goldberg and Seth Rogen) Starring James Franco, Jonah Hill, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel, Danny McBride, and Craig Robinson

Synopsis: While attending a party at James Franco’s house, Seth Rogen, Jay Baruchel and many other celebrities are faced with the apocalypse.

Rotten Tomatoes Score: Critics – 84% • Audience – 89%

A comedy of epic proportions, This Is The End will tickle your tummy and then some. From the creators of Superbad and Pineapple Express comes one of the most meta comedies of our time, and perhaps the funniest movie of the year. Not all of the jokes are going to be understood by those who have not seen all of these actors’ work, but for those who have will thoroughly enjoy this movie. It is non-stop laughs and the fact that each actor plays themselves to certain degree benefits the movie’s charisma. Check out my review for This Is The End. SEE IT! (Watch the trailer)

With This Is The End rated as a hard R and Man of Steel hitting demographics of all kind as a PG-13 mega blockbuster, it isn’t that hard to see who is the clear winner this weekend. Fast 6 is pretty much out of gas and the other bigger films that came out in May have dropped in theater count significantly. So as it stands, I believe the victor for this weekend shall be: