So it's panic mode for Superman fans and gloating time for the handful of vocal, bitter Superman haters. Superman Returns only made $16.7 million on Friday. Failure! Doom! Flop!

Wait a minute. Take a deep breath folks.

Superman Returns made $16.7 million on Friday after making a really nice $21 million on Wednesday. What's with the drop? Has it already blown its load? Well first off even if it has, and only does $16 million on Saturday and Sunday, the movie's still not in bad shape. Batman Begins did similar business last year and made an easy $200 million domestically without the benefit of a $21 million dollar padding from its early Wednesday opening. Batman Begins was widely considered a box office success. It didn't cost as much (nobody seems to know how much Superman really cost), but alright. A $50 million weekend for Superman Returns won't be bad.

But I think what people are forgetting is that this is a holiday weekend. July 4th falls on Tuesday here in the United States, and a lot of people are off work both Monday and Tuesday. What that may mean is that interested audiences are spacing out their movie going, knowing they'll be able to go catch a flick during the day next week when they're off of work before heading out to catch some fireworks later that night.

Superman Returns is fine.

Whatever it's box office total, there's no winning for Superman. A lot of people were ready to call it a flop and a failure if it didn't beat Spider-Man 2, a feat which no movie has accomplished. Because it's the Man of Steel, expectations are high. Too high. Take a deep breath people and pay no attention when the nay sayers take to the streets shouting I told you so. Superman Returns is doing just fine. Expect a sequel and expect solid attendance.