Superman‘s opening weekend is upon us, and with it comes a wide range of opinions. You’ll find fans who loved it, some who hated it, and even some who met in the middle. You’ll hear how it’s a proper start for the new DCU, while others will still be reminiscing about Zack Snyder, Man of Steel, and Henry Cavill. Superman discourse comes with the territory, especially with a new film in the mix, but another bit of discussion you’ll hear about, and maybe already heard about, is what this film needs to gross to be considered a success.
With The Fantastic Four: First Steps also opening this month, Superman’s box office potential has drawn significant attention. From pre-sales to budget and ultimate earnings, Superman’s financial prospects have been scrutinized closely throughout its run. This is a heavy burden for any film, and arguably an unfair one, even for a blockbuster like Superman.
With a movie like Superman, it’s hard to ignore the numbers, and that’s something that many have pointed to. The film’s budget is reportedly $225 million, a staggering amount that intensifies the pressure on the film. This doesn’t even include marketing costs, with some saying that $200 million to promote the project isn’t out of the realm of possibility. According to the break-even gods, just looking at the film’s budget, it would need to make between $560 million and $675 million. To be considered a success for the studio, it would need to gross over $700 million globally, making the studio happy and keeping the internet trolls at bay. However, a recent report from the Wall Street Journal claims Warner Bros. will be satisfied with any number above $500 million, as long as critic and audience reactions are positive.
There’s no denying the hard numbers here, but it’s easy to see that those obsessed with Superman’s box office numbers are simply not considering break-even points. Much of this stems from the fact that some fans are still tied to the past, most notably Snyder’s time with the DCEU, and wish to see the movie fail by placing unfair expectations upon it. Let’s be real, even Man of Steel didn’t live up to those financial expectations.
None of the Standalone Superman Films Have Been Huge Global Successes
Besides Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which grossed $875.4 million worldwide, Superman films have generally had moderate global box office success. Some have done well, no doubt, but among the big-name superhero IPs, Superman’s box office prowess is somewhat weaker when compared to another DC heavyweight, such as Batman. Man of Steel is the primary comparison here, which opened to $116.6 million domestically and earned $291 million in the U.S., with a worldwide gross of $670.1 million on a reported $225 million budget, similar to the production spend of Gunn’s version. It’s the highest-grossing of the Superman standalone films, and this makes it all the more silly that so much emphasis is being put on this latest release.
Superman was never perceived to be close to a billion-dollar earner. There might be some who believed in that potential due to Gunn’s involvement and a fresh start for the DC Universe, but the prior Superman movies should have made it fairly obvious that this was likely out of reach. So what’s the next threshold? The next seems to be that it needs to outgross Man of Steel, which has weirdly become its competition from fans who love that movie and have been prepared to dismiss this one.
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This is why some fans have feverishly scrutinized the film’s box office tracking and pre-sales. At one point, Superman was tracking an opening as high as $150 million, but now that has settled between $90 million and $130 million. If the film opens lower than Man of Steel’s $116.6 million, prepare for the “it’s a disappointment” chatter to begin and intensify each weekend should its worldwide grosses appear to be falling short compared to the Cavill effort.
Many tentpole releases face intense expectations, with even greater pressure to be recognized as major hits. This is especially true during a summer full of blockbusters that has already seen mega-blockbusters (the live-action Lilo & Stitch) and blockbusters in the making (Jurassic World Rebirth, despite mixed reviews). Superman at least has reviews on its side (83% on Rotten Tomatoes) and early audience praise (a solid 95% on the Popcornmeter).
Unfortunately, none of this will matter if it comes up “short” by industry and negative fan standards. Truth be told, not many films can thrive significantly in such a crowded marketplace, but since one of the films present here is Superman, the same rules don’t apply to this Kryptonian. The expectations are unfair, as the film needs to do well enough to establish the new DC Universe as a box office contender and doesn’t necessarily need to be a box office behemoth.
James Gunn Has Something To Say About What Determines ‘Superman’s Success
Release Date
July 11, 2025
Runtime
130 Minutes
Director
James Gunn
Producers
Lars P. Winther, Peter Safran
While some have already scoffed at this, Gunn himself has said that Superman doesn’t need to gross $700 million globally to be considered a success. The director said that the notion was “complete and utter nonsense” and that the threshold for its success is “not as big as people make it out to be.” As the co-head of DC Studios, it seems he has more insight into what they determine to be successful for this Superman reboot.
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“This is not the riskiest endeavor in the world. Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be. 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.”
Naturally, many naysayers believed that Gunn was managing expectations in case the film underperformed, which could very well be true. Still, it’s just another indication that some will spend whatever narrative suits them if they want Superman to come off as some kind of failure. In today’s crowded marketplace, the industry would be better served by celebrating successes rather than speculating on potential failures. An IP of this magnitude will likely never be immune to bloated expectations, but when all the dust settles, it would be nice if the industry and fans alike looked at Superman’s numbers objectively, rather than through a lens worn by trolls. Superman is now in theaters.
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