'Monsters University' Devours Zombies and Superheroes - Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS)

Man of Steel

may be faster than a speeding bullet, but it wasn't fast enough to speed past

DisneyDIS

and Pixar's latest release.

After debuting at number-one with

$116 million

in domestic ticket sales,

Man of Steel

fell to third place with an estimated (though not yet final) $41 million. This swift and steep decline could have hurt

Time Warner'sTWX

chances of recouping the film's $225 million

budget

Man of Steel

is already profitable worldwide, however, earning

$398 million

World War Z

, the mainstream zombie flick from

Viacom'sVIA

Paramount Pictures, came in

second place

with an estimated $66 million. This is an impressive feat for the film, which cost $190 million to produce. According to

Box Office Mojo

Monsters University

scared its way to the top of the domestic box office with an estimated $82 million. This is Pixar's second-biggest opening after

Toy Story 3

, which earned

$110 million

when it was released on June 18, 2010. While many animation sequels struggle at the box office (ex:

Shrek Forever After

made

$100 million less

than

Shrek the Third

and $200 million less than

Shrek 2

Monsters University

has proved to be a smart investment for Disney. CinemaScore, which polls moviegoers to gauge the appeal of new films, awarded

Monsters University

with an

'A' rating

after speaking to consumers on opening night. Aside from the

Toy Story

franchise, Pixar has only released a sequel to one other film:

Cars

. The animation studio will release another,

Finding Dory

, in 2015.

Louis Bedigian is the Senior Tech Analyst and Features Writer of Benzinga. You can reach him at 248-636-1322 or louis(at)benzingapro(dot)com. Follow him @LouisBedigianBZ

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