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Superman got James Gunn’s rebooted DC Universe off to a flyer with a global weekend take of $217 million at the box office.
Domestically, Superman powered to $122 million, which was enough to make it the biggest domestic launch ever for a solo Superman film, not adjusted for inflation. That’s more than Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which kicked off the DCEU with $116.7 million domestically in 2013, and Superman Returns, which hit $52.5 million in 2006. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which included Justice League characters, launched to $166 million domestically in 2016.
Superman’s strong North American launch is the biggest superhero movie opening weekend since last summer’s billion dollar blockbuster Deadpool & Wolverine, which hit $211 million domestically. That means Superman launched bigger than Marvel’s Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts* / The New Avengers. It’s also the biggest DC movie in a long time, and the first to hit a $100 million domestic box office launch since Wonder Woman’s $103.3 million in 2017. Internationally, Superman launched a little soft with $95 million.
In terms of 2025 films, Superman is behind only A Minecraft Movie ($162.8 million) and the live-action Lilo & Stitch ($146 million) at the domestic box office for launch weekend returns. And compared to prior James Gunn movies, Superman is second behind Guardians of the Galaxy 2 ($146.5 million), but ahead of the other Guardians films, including 2023’s Guardians 3 ($118.2 million).
While Superman has started strong, a number of questions remain. How will it fare in the weeks ahead as Marvel’s 2025 tentpole The Fantastic Four: First Steps stomps into theaters? And will Superman settle on a global box office total by the end of its theatrical run that makes parent company Warner Bros. happy not just with the film’s performance, but the prospects of its new DC Universe?
For his part, James Gunn has said rumors surrounding exactly how much money Superman needs to make in order to be considered successful are wide of the mark. In a profile of Superman actor David Corenswet published on GQ, Gunn downplayed the box office pressure on the movie. “This is not the riskiest endeavor in the world,” Gunn said.
Gunn then called the $700 million figure that had been touted online as the minimum Superman needs to make during its theatrical run to avoid flop status as “just complete and utter nonsense,” but admitted there is of course some pressure on the movie to deliver for Warner Bros.
“Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be,” Gunn said. “They hear these numbers that the movie’s only going to be successful if it makes 700 million or something and it’s just complete and utter nonsense. It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying.”
We likely won’t get an accurate picture of Superman’s performance until Warner Bros. boss David Zaslav has his say during a financial call, but it’s easy to see why there’s more box office pressure on Superman than your average superhero film.
It is, after all, kickstarting Gunn and fellow DC Studios CEO Peter Safran’s rebooted DCU, which already has a number of eye-catching follow-ups in the works. For example, Superman leads into the events of HBO Max series Peacemaker Season 2. Then, next year, the DCU continues on the big screen with Supergirl starring Milly Alcock, and Clayface starring Tom Rhys Harries. If Superman flops, it will call into question the viability of everything that follows.
Check out IGN’s Superman review to find out what we think, and then head over to our Superman Ending and Post-Credits Explained to find out what it all means.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
