Update Monday, July 14: Warner Bros. is now reporting that “Superman” took in $125 million domestically over the three-day period. As noted Sunday, that was where most of its competitors pegged the DC Studios tentpole. That brings its global tally so far to $220 million.
Original Post: James Gunn’s upbeat and kind version of the Man of Steel resonated with North American audiences as “Superman” earned $122 million at the domestic box office. That was a more than satisfactory result for Warner Bros., as industry tracking had a debut anywhere from $90-130 million. And yes, it’s a bigger opening than Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel,” which took in $116 million in 2023. Also, other studios believe the final Monday number will come in higher in the $124-125 million range, so watch this space.
This is the best opening for a DC Studios-affiliated film since Matt Reeves’ “The Batman” earned $134 million in March 2022. Comparably, it was also second to “Suicide Squad,” which scored $133 million in August 2016, and “Aquaman,” $139 million over a seven-day Christmas frame in 2018, but flew by 2019’s “Joker,” 2017’s “Wonder Woman,” and “Justice League.” The top DC Studios opener is still “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” which earned $166 million in March 2016.
Overseas, the reception was less enthusiastic, with the overall projection falling daily. The Warner Bros. release took in just $95 million to bring the global cume to $217 million. That’s still bigger than recent releases “How To Train Your Dragon” and “F1,” which took in $197 million and $146.3 million, respectively. That being said, it’s also a far cry from the $322.5 million “Jurassic World: Rebirth” pulled in a week ago. Moreover, “Man of Steel” took in 56% of its $670 million cume overseas. Warner Bros. execs have signaled they would be thrilled with a $500 million gross for a reported $200-225 million production budget.
Currently, “Superman” has a 68 on Metacritic, on par with Gunn’s last two “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, and an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. The film scored an A- grade from Cinemascore, comparable to “Thunderbolts*” in May and “The Batman.” It won’t face any serious competition at the box office until Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” arrives on July 25.
Dropping a satisfactory 57% was “Rebirth,” which pulled in another $40 million and now stands at $232 million domestic and $529 million worldwide. The Universal Pictures release is now on track to earn over $800 million worldwide. It would be the first “Jurassic World” movie to not crack $1 billion globally, but considering the reviews, the NBCUniversal division will take a profitable double down the line.
In third place was Joseph Kosinski’s “F1,” which earned another $13 million, bringing its domestic total to $136 million and its worldwide total to $393 million. The Brad Pitt racing drama is still one of the bright lights of the summer, as it is expected to cover its production cost in theaters.
“Dragon” came in fourth and is slowing down considerably with a $7.8 million domestic frame. The live-action remake has now earned $239 million domestic and $560 million global. For franchise context, it now only trails the animated “How to Train Your Dragon 2’s” worldwide gross of $614 million. A big win for Universal and DreamWorks, which already has a sequel in development.
Notably, “Lilo & Stitch” is on the precipice of becoming the first $1 billion grosser this calendar year. The Disney Studios live-action remake is currently at $994.2 million and should surpass the tally by at least next Sunday.
Friday’s new releases include Ari Aster’s “Eddington” and a new animated version of “The Smurfs.”
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