A blockbuster opening for 'Man of Steel' this past weekend paves the way for Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. to rev up its efforts to challenge Walt Disney Co.'s Marvel Entertainment in the superhero movie game.

在周末期间首映的《超人：钢铁之躯》(Man of Steel)一片一鸣惊人，它将为时代华纳公司(Time Warner Inc.)旗下华纳兄弟公司(Warner Bros.)在超级英雄电影领域加紧挑战华特-迪士尼公司(Walt Disney Co.)旗下子公司漫威娱乐有限公司(Marvel Entertainment)铺平道路。

Warner Bros.' costly Superman reboot opened to an estimated $125.1 million, including $12 million from Thursday evening shows, in the U.S. and Canada, the second-biggest debut of the year behind Marvel's 'Iron Man 3.'

华纳兄弟公司此次花费巨资重新打造的超人影片周末期间在美国和加拿大市场获得约1.251亿美元的票房收入，其中的1,200万美元来自上周四晚间的上映收入。这是今年迄今为止排名第二高的新片首映周末票房收入，仅次于漫威娱乐的《钢铁侠3》(Iron Man 3)所创造的票房纪录。

Combined with $74.1 million from 24 overseas markets─most foreign countries will get 'Man of Steel' in the coming weeks─'Man of Steel' had a strong enough start to leave studio executives already thinking about what more they can do with characters from their DC Comics unit.

如果再加上周末期间从24个海外市场获得的7,410万美元票房收入，《超人：钢铁之躯》一片上映首周末的票房成绩已足以让华纳兄弟公司的高管们感到欣慰了，这些人已经在考虑为能从公司旗下子公司DC漫画公司(DC Comics)的动漫人物身上赚更多的钱还能再做些什么。

'It's more than just a franchise for us, it really opens up the door to do combinations of the DC Comics characters,' said Dan Fellman, Warner's president of domestic distribution. 'We can build them up like Marvel did and benefit from the history of DC.'

华纳兄弟公司负责国内发行的总裁费尔曼(Dan Fellman)说，《超人：钢铁之躯》不仅仅是我们拍摄的一部系列影片，它为我们将DC漫画公司的各个动漫人物重新组合在一起真正打开了大门；我们能像漫威处理其动漫人物那样基于DC漫画公司的各种动漫人物重新组织故事，并从DC漫画公司的历史积淀中获利。

Warner is already in development on a sequel to 'Man of Steel' and is expected to fast track that for release as soon as 2014, said knowledgeable people close to the studio.

据知情人士说，华纳兄弟公司已经在着手制作《超人：钢铁之躯》的续集，预计该公司会加紧拍摄，以便最早在2014年让这部影片上映。

In addition, it has long been developing a 'Justice League' team-up movie featuring characters such as the Flash and Wonder Woman that could come out as soon as 2015.

此外，华纳兄弟公司还一直在制作一部将闪电侠(The Flash)和神力女超人(Wonder Woman)等DC漫画公司的不同动漫人物集合在一起的“正义联盟”(Justice League)影片，这部影片最早将于2015年上映。

Though Warner Bros. had great success with director Christopher Nolan's 'Dark Knight' trilogy of Batman films, it has otherwise lagged behind far behind Disney's Marvel, which releases two superhero films a year and has had a consistent record of hits since 2008.

虽然华纳兄弟公司由克里斯托弗·诺兰(Christopher Nolan)执导的《蝙蝠侠》(Batman)“黑暗骑士”三部曲大获成功，但如果不计入这三部系列影片的功劳，该公司的表现却远落后于华特-迪士尼旗下的漫威影业，后者曾在一年内上映了两部超级英雄电影，自2008年以来，其上映的影片持续打破票房记录。

Warner and its corporate predecessors have owned DC Comics since the late 1960s, but lately the studio has struggled to bring a number of movie adaptations to production. Its one recent superhero movie not made by Mr. Nolan, 2011's 'Green Lantern,' performed poorly, earning $220 million world-wide.

华纳兄弟公司说，虽然该公司的前身自上世纪60年代末起就拥有DC漫画公司，但近年来公司在推出基于动漫故事改编的电影方面却一直进展不利。该公司2011年推出的超级英雄电影《绿灯侠》(Green Lantern)票房表现不佳，在全球范围内只获得了2.2亿美元的票房收入。这部影片不是由诺兰执导的。

Reviving Superman was considered key to a turnaround for Warner and DC, as he isn't only their best-known character, but perhaps the best-known superhero in the world. 'Superman Returns,' in 2006, was considered a commercial and critical disappointment despite raking in $391 million world-wide, leading to the studio's decision to reboot the character rather than making a sequel to that movie.

外界认为，重新推出以超人为主角的电影对于华纳兄弟公司和DC漫画公司打翻身仗将起到关键作用，因为超人不仅是这两家公司最广为人知的银幕形象，或许也是世界上最广为人知的超级英雄。华纳兄弟公司2006年推出的《超人归来》(Superman Returns)一片尽管在全球范围内获得了3.91亿美元的票房收入，但它却被认为是一部在商业方面和影评方面令人失望的电影，正因如此，华纳兄弟公司这次决定让《超人：钢铁之躯》成为一部独立的超人影片，而不是将其作为《超人归来》的续集。