After just three weekends in theaters, director James Gunn's "Superman" has become the biggest superhero movie of 2025. That is, admittedly, a relatively low bar this year, with Marvel's "Captain America: Brave New World" ($415 million worldwide) having previously led the way, followed by "Thunderbolts*" ($382 million worldwide). The days of expecting these films will coast to $1 billion with ease are long behind us. That having been said, Gunn's big, bold first movie as part of the new DC Universe
is off to a damn good start.
The superhero blockbuster, which stars David Corenswet as our new Man of Steel, pulled in an additional $24.8 million domestically over the weekend despite the fact that Marvel Studios' "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" arrived with a bang, taking in $218 million globally. But Marvel didn't totally eat DC's lunch in this case, with "Superman" also pulling in another $19.8 million overseas. That gives it $289.5 million domestically to go with $213.2 million internationally for a running global total of $502.7 million.
As of this writing, that's good enough to make "Superman" the eighth-biggest movie of 2025 overall, trailing "F1" ($509.6 million), "Mission: Impossible -- The Final Reckoning" ($591.9 million), "How to Train Your Dragon" ($605.9 million), "Jurassic World Rebirth" ($718.3 million), "A Minecraft Movie" ($955.1 million), "Lilo & Stitch" ($1.01 billion), and the massive Chinese animated blockbuster "Ne-Zha 2" ($2.2 billion). Before all's said and done, Supes will make his way further up that list.
One of the only downsides when it comes to "Superman" so far is the fact that the overseas grosses are lagging pretty far behind those from North America. Even so, against a reported budget of $225 million, the film is well on its way to turning a profit for Warner Bros. and DC Studios. The break-even point for "Superman" has been pegged somewhere between $500 and $700 million, with the number for breaking even purely from theatrical revenue probably being closer to the latter number.
Read more: Every Marvel Character Locked Up In The Raft
How High Is James Gunn's Superman Going To Fly?
In any event, this early success has given Gunn, his DC Studios co-head Peter Safran, and Warner Bros. some confidence as they press forth with their plans for the new DCU. The franchise already included "Creature Commandos," which aired its first season last year and now has a second season in the works. Meanwhile, the DCU has "Peacemaker" season 2 coming in August, with the films "Supergirl" and "Clayface" slated to follow suit in theaters next year. A new "Wonder Woman" movie is seemingly on the fast track as well, with plenty of other projects at various stages of development.
When Gunn and Safran took over at DC Studios, they hatched an ambitious plan for a unified DCU. It really began with "Superman," and if the film hadn't worked out, the future of the franchise might have been on uncertain ground. Fortunately, it's panning out, as Gunn's latest directorial effort has also been a hit critically speaking. With any luck, the audience's enthusiasm for "Superman" should help garner further interest in "Supergirl" in particular.
The larger question is: Just how high can this movie fly? At this point, $600 million is a lock, and $700 million remains within reach. Beyond that? We'll have to see how things shake out. Either way, "Superman" is easily the highest-grossing DC film to come out since "The Batman" cleared $770 million at the box office in 2022. As you may recall, the company's 2023 slate was something of a disaster, with "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "The Flash," "Blue Beetle," and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" all either disappointing or flat-out bombing that year. Similarly, the much-hyped "Joker: Folie à Deux" proved to be an utter disaster a year later. As such, regardless of what happens from here, "Superman" has to be considered a win for DC's new regime.
"Superman" is in theaters now.
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Read the original article on SlashFilm.
