James Gunn’s “Superman” Fails to Be Super at the Box Office

Now that we have the second weekend box office numbers for the new live-action Superman movie, I think it’s safe to say that the creatives and (most) fans wish it performed better than it did.

Being the first feature film to start James Gunn’s DCEU, there was a lot riding on the success of Superman starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult. And though Superman has been making money at the box office, the gross isn’t where a movie of said caliber should be, especially with how a bunch of people are still advocating for the return of the Snyderverse that had Henry Cavill as the Man of Steel.

Superman opened in the US on July 11, 2025, with approximately $125 million at the domestic weekend box office. The second week saw the film drop around 53% to collect an estimated $58.4 million. Now, such a fall is in line with how major movies perform. However, the issue with Superman is that the totals aren’t high enough to make up for such a loss over the second weekend.

With a reported production budget of an estimated $225 million, the domestic numbers (as of writing this) stand at $235 million. And while that’s all fine and dandy, the international gross is a concern. For some reason, the latest Superman movie has failed to materialize on a global level. As I’m typing this, the international number is approx. $171.8 million, basically meaning that only about 42% of the film’s total of $409.3 million is from foreign markets. That’s not great when Hollywood has a trend of having massive tentpole films that make a lot more money overseas than domestically (usually double or triple the domestic haul).

I don’t know what went wrong here. Superman is a globally recognized brand. Adults and kids know who he is. There are numerous power-level discussions of Superman vs. Goku (Dragon Ball) across international fandoms. His merch continues to sell. And yet, Gunn’s version of the Son of Krypton couldn’t mobilize the globe to go support the latest superhero offering.

Now, there are some who say that the Snyderverse fans negatively impacted the international box office because there’s a lot more of them overseas compared to the ones in the USA. And while that might be true, as someone who has been covering fandom drama for decades, I can say for certain that casual moviegoers have no interest in or awareness of fandom wars. Them not going to watch Superman has more to do with not being interested in Corenswet as the iconic character rather than wanting to show their support for the Snyderverse.

Something just didn’t “click” between international moviegoers and Gunn’s version of Superman, whether it was the casting, marketing, storytelling, or all said factors combined. When I asked my coworkers about watching the film, a majority of the women said they didn’t find Corenswet’s Superman attractive. Don’t take this the wrong way. They mentioned he was indeed handsome. But he wasn’t the “rugged” handsome hero like Cavill’s version. Make of such opinions what you will.

There are some who have shared the opinion that the current Superman might not be able to match (2013) The Man of Steel‘s $670 million worldwide gross. If that ends up being true, the Snyderverse supporters will rightfully have a whole lot to brag about. It will also be a very disappointing beginning to Gunn’s DCEU, especially with how a Supergirl solo movie has a planned June 26, 2026, release date.    

We will get a final picture of Superman‘s performance soon enough. However, with the MCU’s Fantastic Four: First Steps opening July 25, 2025, Kal-El has an uphill battle.

As for the rest of the box office, the animated Smurfs opened to about $11 million. With a reported production budget of $58 million, the film has amassed an estimated $36 million at the global box office. It has been directed by Chris Miller and written by Pam Brady. Having seen the trailers and other promotional content, I have no interest in watching it in theatres.

I Know What You Did Last Summer opened to a soft $12.7 million. The movie’s cast includes Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, and Jonah Hauer-King, with Jennifer Love Hewitt returning as Julie James. Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who also co-wrote the screenplay with Sam Lansky, the reported production budget for the movie is $18 million. The global gross stands at around $24 million.

Jurassic Park: Rebirth added another $23.4 million to the domestic haul, bringing the worldwide total to $649.8 million. It’s behind the massive numbers of the Jurassic World franchise, but I think we will be getting another installment soon. The IP is too big for Universal to let rest.

July 18 – July 20, 2025 Weekend Box Office:

1. Superman – $58.4 million
2. Jurassic World Rebirth – $23.4 million
3. I Know What You Did Last Summer – $12.7 million
4. Smurfs – $11 million
5. F1 – $9.6 million
6. How to Train Your Dragon – $5.3 million
7. Eddington – $4.2 million
8. Elio – $2 million
9. Lilo and Stitch – $1.5 million
10. 28 Years Later – $1.3 million

Did you watch Superman? What are your thoughts about the box office?

Let us know.

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(via Box Office Mojo, Beyond the Trailer)

ADMIN NOTE (7/22/25): We have closed comments on this article. While people are obviously allowed to disagree with our reporting, we do not tolerate personal attacks against our contributors.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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