The sparks were flying at the boxoffice this Fourth of July holiday as Warner Bros. Pictures' "Superman Returns" avoided the kryptonite of overhype and muscled its way to an estimated gross of a sturdy $106 million in its first seven days of release. The first film about the Man of Steel in 19 years, helmed by Bryan Singer and starring Brandon Routh in the role etched upon modern memory by the late Christopher Reeve, was aided by an abundance of positive reviews and favorable exit polls.

Filling the shoes of a successful counter-programming strategy aimed at females was 20th Century Fox's debut, "The Devil Wears Prada." The PG-13 comedy, starring Anne Hathaway and Meryl Streep, was released Friday and walked down the boxoffice runway with an estimated five-day gross of $39.6 million. Like "Superman," "Prada" generated mostly favorable reviews and positive exit scores.

"Superman" easily captured the top spot during the three-day holiday session as the red-caped superhero flew into 4,065 theaters and left with $52.5 million. Its total boxoffice through Sunday was $84.5 million.

The PG-13 "Superman" was in 76 Imax theaters, where about 18 minutes of the film were in 3-D, and grossed a record $6.7 million during the seven days. The previous seven-day best for an Imax film was conjured up by "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," with $5.1 million from 66 locations. Even with a higher screen count, the per-theater average for "Superman" was significantly higher than "Goblet of Fire."

"Superman," which cost about $200 million to produce, represents the second long-dormant franchise to be successfully resurrected by Warners in the past two years, "Batman" being the other.

Comparing the early returns from "Superman" to "Batman Begins," the former is doing better business. After an eight-year theatrical sabbatical, "Batman" also was released on a Wednesday and had a first-weekend gross of $48.7 million, grossed $72.8 million in its first five days and recorded $82 million in its first seven days -- about $24 million less than "Superman." "Batman" ended with a domestic gross of $205.3 million.

"Prada" stepped into the second spot with a smart $27.3 million, which was higher than anyone had expected heading into the weekend. The David Frankel-helmed picture, based on the best-selling novel by Lauren Weisberger, began its summer run in 2,847 houses, the fewest of the weekend's top five films.

Sony's "Click" held up well considering how competitive the weekend was, with a sophomore frame of $20 million and a relatively moderate 50% drop from its debut. The Adam Sandler starrer, directed by Frank Coraci, grossed an estimated $29 million from Friday-Tuesday. The cume through Sunday was $78.5 million, while the estimated total to date stands at about $87.5 million.

Buena Vista's "Cars" was still in the race, garnering $14.6 million on its fourth lap in theaters and taking its cume through Sunday to $182.6 million. The animated blockbuster from Disney/Pixar gleaned an estimated $22.1 million for the five days, moving the total to about $190.1 million through Tuesday.

Paramount's "Nacho Libre" placed fifth with $6.6 million this weekend, down 48% in its third session, and earned an estimated $9.5 million for the five days. Through Tuesday, the Jack Black-starring comedy has picked up about $68.3 million.

Altogether, and thanks largely to "Superman," "Prada" and a host of lively holdovers, the Independence Day frame was a solid one at the boxoffice and marked the seventh consecutive up weekend compared with 2005. The estimated total for the top 12 films was $143 million, up almost 5% compared with the first three days of the four-day holiday weekend last year. The Hollywood Reporter projects the total for all films to be in the low- to mid-$150 million area.

Because July Fourth can land on any day of the week, boxoffice performance during the frame can vary. Historically, it ends up being either a regular three-day weekend or a four-day affair. Among the three-day July Fourth holiday weekends, the group to which this year's session belongs, the weekend will be either the biggest or second-biggest depending on how the final numbers play out.

Compared with all July Fourth weekends, including four-days, it was the either the fourth- or fifth-best of all time. The biggest Fourth of July weekend in history grossed $223.2 million during the four-day session in 2004, when the holiday fell on a Monday and Sony's "Spider-Man 2" collected $115.8 million.

Executives at Warner Bros. were understandably pleased with the performance of "Superman." "I'm thrilled with the results of 'Superman Returns' this weekend," said Dan Fellman, president of domestic distribution for Warner Bros. "There's a short list of films in the seven-day $100 million club, so it's great to be a member."

Looking down the road, Fellman said, "With great critical acclaim and outstanding exits from our audience, the film will continue to play strong throughout the balance of the summer."

"Superman's" audience skewed slightly male (53%) and played across the board in the age demographics. Regarding the female contingent, Fellman said, "I think that's a great result, considering 'Prada' consumed a large portion of the available female audience this weekend."

Speaking about the large female ratio comprising the audience for "Prada," Fox domestic distribution president Bruce Snyder said, "I expect it to get younger and more male by next weekend as word spreads." A large 79% of the audience for "Prada" was female, and 61% were 25 years of age or older.

"Certainly the counter-programming effort was successful as there was room for a feel-good comedy even with 'Superman' in the marketplace," Snyder said. "I would have been thrilled with $20 million, so to hit $27 million is well beyond anyone's expectations, and almost $40 million after five days is remarkable."

In limited release, ThinkFilm's "Strangers With Candy," based on the Comedy Central television series, debuted with $43,141 for the three days from two locations in New York, averaging a sterling $21,571 per theater. The comedy, directed by Paul Dinello and starring Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris, was released last Wednesday and has an estimated seven-day gross of $97,300. "Candy" moves into the top 10 markets Friday.

Sony Pictures Classics' "Who Killed the Electric Car?" opened in eight venues and grossed an estimated $45,117, averaging a hopeful $5,640 per theater. The documentary from director Chris Paine about the death of the electric car has taken in an estimated $84,191 in seven days since its release last Wednesday.

Other films in the top 10 for the weekend include Warner Bros.' "The Lake House," in the sixth slot with $4.7 million, off 47% on its third session. The romantic drama has picked up $38.9 million through Sunday.

On its third weekend, Universal's "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" was seventh with $4.4 million, slipping 55% from a week earlier while moving its cume to $51.7 million.

Rogue Pictures' "Waist Deep" knocked off $3.4 million on its second weekend in theaters, down a steep 65% from its bow. The R-rated action-thriller has amassed $15.2 million through the weekend.

The national boxoffice for the week ending June 29 was up 4% from the comparable seven-day period last year ($241.3 million vs. $231.6 million), while the year-to-date boxoffice is up nearly 5% from the corresponding period in 2005 ($4.38 billion vs. $4.18 billion). Thanks to strong performances at the boxoffice for most of the past 15 weeks, estimated admissions for the year-to-date are up 3% from last year at this time.