‘Superman’ Launches New Chapter For DC With $217 Million Global Box Office Opening
Warner Bros./DC Studios’ “Superman” didn’t earn its studio’s biggest opening of the year, but it is still getting a new era of DC superhero movies off on the right foot with a global launch of $217 million, including $122 million domestic.
The domestic start is right in the middle of a wide projection range from industry analysts, rival studios and independent trackers, which had starts ranging from $115-135 million. It is also between the $118 million opening of director James Gunn’s last film, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” and the $133 million of the last hit DC film, “The Batman.”
The reception for “Superman” has also been largely positive, earning Rotten Tomatoes scores of 82% critics and 94% audience along with an 86% positive score on Posttrak and an A- on CinemaScore. The CinemaScore grade matches the A- of Zack Snyder’s 2013 Superman film “Man of Steel,” which opened to $128 million.
With that reception, “Superman” is in place to leg out with domestic audiences even with Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic 4: First Steps” arriving in two weeks. That film is building up a social media buzz somewhat similar to “Barbenheimer” with superhero fans excited for both films, so it is possible that a portion of them could come back for repeat viewings of “Superman” when they show up to see “Fantastic 4”
The one disappointing aspect of the film’s weekend is its overseas performance, where the film earned $95 million from 78 markets. The lower international opening compared to the U.S. is likely attributable to the strong competition from Universal’s “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” which earned $68 million overseas and $40 million domestic in its second weekend and now has a global total of $529 million.
With dinosaurs proving to be a more potent draw for non-American moviegoers than the Man of Steel, “Superman” could find its potential final global box office total curtailed, even as it is set to become the third film this year to clear $300 million in domestic grosses.
Behind “Superman” and “Jurassic” is another Warner Bros. release, Apple’s “F1,” which earned $13 million domestic in its third weekend. “F1” may also be peeling away some moviegoers from “Superman” with $38.5 million overseas this weekend. The racing film will cross $400 million worldwide this week with a current total of $136 million domestic and $393 million global.
Universal/DreamWorks’ “How to Train Your Dragon” is fourth with $7.8 million in its fifth weekend and totals of $239.8 million domestic and $560 million worldwide. Disney/Pixar’s “Elio” completes the top 5 with $4 million in its fourth weekend, limping to $63.7 million domestic and $117 million worldwide.
While Disney continues to struggle with original animation like the rest of Hollywood, it does have some good news. This week, its remake of “Lilo & Stitch” will become the first movie this year to cross $1 billion worldwide. Disney could have three 2025 films cross that mark with “Zootopia 2” and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” coming at the end of the year.
More to come…
The post ‘Superman’ Launches New Chapter For DC With $217 Million Global Box Office Opening appeared first on TheWrap.