‘Superman’ Is Hailed A Success With A Strong Domestic Opening, But Is Sluggish Internationally And Slightly Behind ‘Man of Steel’
Superman’s first weekend is in the books, and as the biggest opening for DC since The Batman and one of the biggest all year, it’s being considered a success internally at Warner Bros. Discovery. It made $125 million domestically and $95M internationally, earning a total of $220M, which is close to the film’s reported budget.
James Gunn is happy with how it’s doing, writing on Threads, “I’m incredibly grateful for your enthusiasm and kind words over the past few days. We’ve had a lot of ‘Super’ in Superman over the years, and I’m happy to have made a movie that focuses on the ‘man’ part of the equation – a kind person always looking out for those in need. That that resonates so powerfully with so many people across the world is in itself a hopeful testament to the kindness and quality of human beings. Thank you.”
Warner Bros. Discovery Chief David Zaslav issued a statement where, in part, he celebrated Superman and teased what’s to come. “This weekend, we watched Superman soar as James Gunn’s passion and vision came to life on the big screen. Superman is just the first step. Over the next year alone, DC Studios will introduce the films Supergirl and Clayface in theaters and the series Lanterns on HBO Max, all part of a bold ten-year plan. The DC vision is clear, the momentum is real, and I couldn’t be more excited for what’s ahead,” Zaslav said via Cosmic Book News.
The dawn looks bright for the new DCU, so excitement is justified. However, when you break down the numbers, they tell a different story. Pointing again to the international numbers to start with, it’s clear Superman did better in the good old US of A, whose way he traditionally stood for, than anywhere else. So far, that’s the opposite of what happened with Man of Steel, which fared better internationally than domestically.
Still, Superman’s total gross worldwide blew past Man of Steel’s opening weekend of $115M and closes in on its budget of $225M. Domestically, Superman’s $125M is also better than MOS’s opening weekend, but slightly less than its to-date number of $128.6M. Conversely, there is even more of a negative in figures for the Zack Snyder film that could portend the coming fate of the DCU’s first salvo.
MOS suffered steep drops from weekend to weekend: 64.6 percent in week two and 49.8 percent in week three. We have to wait and see how James Gunn’s movie performs in that regard, but it has a chance of getting knocked off its throne. Superman faces stiffer competition in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Jurassic World: Rebirth, which he might struggle to overcome if positive word-of-mouth is not strong enough.
(There is also a legacy slasher sequel from Sony coming out this Friday, but somehow that retread doesn’t look like much of a threat.)
If that isn’t enough, there are unfortunately other inconsistencies to consider. Man of Steel’s crawl to passing $600M took a while, but it had a few more theaters than Gunn’s Superman without the generous preview screenings of its 2025 successor. Those began on Tuesday and continued early on Thursday night before 10 pm, and factor into its weekend earnings, making the tally look somewhat inflated.
Trade estimates are still fluctuating, and there is a noticeable downward trend in superhero cinema when you factor in all the releases of the last three years, especially Marvel (and not excluding Deadpool & Wolverine, a high point among declining returns based mostly on who was in it).
Could DC/Warner still surprise us all and turn the tide? Certainly, they did it before. 20 years ago, out of Batman Begins and a humble $375M worldwide gross, came a titanic billion-dollar Dark Knight.
