‘Superman’s’ Good (and Scary) Box Office Numbers, Revealed
Man of Steel reboot wins the weekend, but one key comparison can't be ignored
James Gunn’s version of Superman bleeds.
It’s a shocking sight for the Man of Steel, arguably the strongest superhero across the comic book landscape.
Bloodied but unbowed.
The director’s “Superman” reboot scored big at the box office this weekend, with an estimated $123 million haul in its debut frame. That blew past runner-up “Jurassic World Rebirth” with $40 million. That’s the third biggest U.S. box office opening this year.
The numbers don’t tell the whole story.
“Superman’s” tally came close to matching “Man of Steel,” the 2013 super-reboot starring Henry Cavill as the titular hero. That movie made $116 million in its first weekend, but movie ticket prices were much cheaper at the time.
See the problem? It gets more complicated. Deadline reports that box office tallies back in the 2010s didn’t include the preview/early screenings. That means “Man of Steel” actually made more than “Superman” – $128.6 million.
Now, look at the number of tickets sold:
Estimated tickets sold opening weekend:
MAN OF STEEL (14.3M)
SUPERMAN (10.7M)
Sometimes a win isn’t quite a win.
The overseas ticket sales offer more cause for concern. “Superman” isn’t getting much traction in China, a market that can often make or break a blockbuster film.
From here, it’s a waiting game. Will “Superman” have legs? The film’s general audience score at Rotten Tomatoes suggests, “yes” (93 percent “fresh”).
Now, imagine what these numbers would be if Gunn hadn’t gotten political at the 11th hour.
The writer/director dubbed the project “political” and said Superman is the ultimate immigrant. No mention of legal or illegal, by the way, standard procedure for the modern Left. Gunn went further, saying “screw” those who don’t see the film that way.
Brother Sean Gunn doubled down on that nastiness, suggesting those who disagree with the Gunn worldview vis a vis “Superman” aren’t true Americans.
The comments quickly went viral. Did that impact the film’s box office numbers?
Not according to the far-Left Deadline. Its proof?
Wait, weren’t some source expecting Superman to go hog wild after the $22M previews with a $140M-$150M opening? Is MAGA to blame? Is Gunn’s “immigrant” comments to blame? It’s my understanding, not at all, because the red county zones for this type of movie aren’t underperforming (more on that soon), rather they’re churning out the average amount of cash for a PG-13 family adventures movie.
Stop laughing.
“Superman” isn’t your typical “PG-13 family adventures” movie. And Deadline knows it.
Later, Deadline attacks a Fox News guest who wondered if Gunn’s comments could ding the box office results. Hardly, argues the web site, predicting a $140-150 million weekend stateside.
The final numbers proved otherwise.
Clearly, Gunn’s “Superman” is far from a flop and the marketing machine behind it did its job. Like “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” and “F1®” before it, the film’s massive budget demands a massive box office return.
We’re not there yet. Will we be in a few weeks? That’s the potential Kryptonite awaiting the newest Man of Steel and, by extension, Hollywood in toto.
I thought this movie was terrible, odd story tangents, weird editing, weird manic overdramatic dialogue, disjointed storylines, villian ripoff of Spawn, CGI is of course over the top but I almost quit this about 10 minutes in, it was so bad, somehow stuck it out to the end .. hard to imagine this gobbledygook making any money
You’ll stop at nothing to denigrate something you have deemed “woke’ . You’re as pathetic as CNN still holding on to the Russia Hoax. They dropped “And the American Way” you and your ilk got your American Flag Panties in a bunch , TOO STUPID to even understand that this is liberal’s BROKEN CLOCK MOMENT, since THEY ARE RIGHT and by EVERY METRIC we are using now to KICK OUT ILLEGAL ALIENS , Supes is ONE OF THEM.
He came here UNINVITED NO VISA and STAYED. His DOCUMENTS WERE FORGED by his parents SO EVEN HIS ADOPTION BY THEM IS FRAUDULENT! You’re so ideologically blinded you can’t agree to that ONE SIMPLE FACT.
I don’t have your problem since MY allegiance is not to a party or ideology but rather to the TRUTH. Which frees me to simply tell liberal scum, YES , YOU’RE RIGHT! Superman is an ILLEGAL ALIEN and when you BRING ME A BULLETPROOF MEXICAN WHO CAN FLY AND SHOOT LASERS OUT OF HIS EYES, HE CAN STAY. The rest GTFO! See how silly you’re being and how brilliant I was?
You sound like an uneducated, worthless, ignorant, fascist and racist Trump supporter.
Move to Hungary with or an so we don’t have to vomit anymore reading your horse manure.
We (6 of us) were going to go see the movie this weekend. However after Gunn opened his trap, we punted and went to see the so so Jurassic movie. Gunn is Dunn as far as we are concerned. These people do not know when to shut their mouths. WE vote with our dollars.
You want to see a REAL superhero movie?
Go watch William Holden in “THE BRIDGES AT TOKO-RI” or Van Johnson in “MEN OF THE FIGHTING LADY” sometime. That’s what heroism is, not superpower-infused dreck.
Superman fights illegal Alien who come to earth to do it harm, he is the Super ICE Agent.
Didn’t Superman spend nearly his entire career fighting dangerous and illegal aliens?
Superman with empathy??
OH, NO!!
I agree with Andrew Klavan. All these superhero movies are stunting the emotional growth of men.
Time to put away the capes and tights and start acting like grown ups, fellas.
“The writer/director dubbed the project “political” and said Superman is the ultimate immigrant.”
Yet not a problem…
https://youtu.be/g5-xx87r69w?si=COMpsqdWybmPoA-B&t=358
My $12 matinee and discounted ticket price didn’t go towards it, and yes, it was because I heard it sucked, made Superman’s parents to be evil, and portrayed Superman as an illegal. If anything he was a LEGITIMATE refugee. So I voted with my $.
Snyderverse Batman: “Tell me, do you bleed?”
James Gunn Superman: “It’s literally the only thing I do.”
I haven’t watched any of the blasphemous “Superman” movies since Christopher Reeve! I prefer the ORIGINAL people, but gave Christopher a pass and loved the movies even though he wasn’t related to George Reeves! Those early Superman movies were fun, uplifting, and American! If the rest of the World needs an American bashing movie then let them make it!
As far as ticket prices and Records?? Why not establish some kind of Baseline Value and restate today’s take compared to yesteryears? We all know our dollars shrink over time and probably this movie will too now that the libers have seen it!
Pretend you have a second weekend for the new film. and that during the week, the people how SAW the film told every one of their friends that it SUCKED.
What is going to be the turnout for a second weekend?
Deadline attempted herald SUPERMAN 2025 as a big win over MAN OF STEEL.
However, DEADLINE deliberately left out the 12 million dollars that MAN OF STEEL made Thursday night while including the Thursday figures for SUPERMAN 2025.
If one includes the 12 million Thursday receipts for MAN OF STEEL, then now we are talking 228 MILLION (in 2013 dollars) to 223 million (in 2025 dollars).
This further hammers the fact further that
MAN OF STEEL out grossed SUPERMAN 2025; which is why DEADLINE has buried that particular detail.