Superman’s return (snirk) to the big screen last week heralded record-breaking box-office returns for DC’s Yankie captain but he’s been brought crashing back to Earth this week, adding $41.3 million to MAN OF STEEL’s haul, marking a bitter 65% decline.

Turns out old Kal-El wasn’t quite tough enough to shirk off the joint offensive from Pixar’s MONSTERS UNIVERSITY and Paramount’s, sorry: Brad Pitt’s, WORLD WAR Z. Proving once and for all that Joe Bloggs couldn’t give two figs about troubled productions and behind-the-scenes hoopla, WWZ launched with the second-highest second-placed debut ever with $66.4 million, giving King Pitt his highest ever personal launch.

As with everything else they’ve ever made, done or thought about ever, Pixar came out as the big winners this week. Taking lavish advantage of the undernourished ‘family-friendly’ market, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY romped home with $82.4 million, Pixar’s second highest launch behind TOY STORY 3’s $110.3 million. Because everything Pixar ever deigns to touch or look at naturally performs amazingly, MONSTERS UNIVERSITY can expect to hold strong in the coming weeks, though DESPICABLE ME 2 will likely make for tough competition.

Two of the year’s surprise packages –THIS IS THE END and NOW YOU SEE ME – continued to perform admirably, raking in $13.3 and $7.8 million respectively and rounding out the top 5. NOW YOU SEE ME looks all but certain to break the $100 million barrier, now standing at $94.5, while Seth Rogan will likely be wondering what the hell he did so right with his film preening its feathers at a current total of $58.1.

In the murky reaches of the upper top 10, STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS and IRON MAN 3 continue to flaunt their stamina like that annoying guy at the gym – hitting 9th and 10th respectively – while Fox’s THE INTERNSHIP took 8th and Universals successful summer continued with FAST 6 and THE PURGE claiming 6th and 7th.

And because it’s sometimes fun to kick a guy when he’s down, AFTER EARTH clawed less than a million putting it well outside of the top 10. Bless it.

Domestic US Box-Office Top 10

1. Monsters University

2. World War Z

3. Man of Steel

4. This is the End

5. Now You See Me

6. Fast and Furious 6

7. The Purge

8. The Internship

9. Star Trek Into Darkness

10. Iron Man 3

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