‘Superman’ Opening Saves the Day for DC Studios

The Man of Steel is back.

James Gunn‘s Superman, one of the summer’s most anticipated tentpoles, flew to a solid box office debut of $122 million in North America and $95 million overseas for an estimated global launch of $217 million.

The movie is a seminal moment in rebooting both DC Studios — which has struggled badly in recent years — and one of Hollywood’s most iconic comic book film franchises. Gunn is in a unique position, being both the film’s writer-director and the co-head of the Warner Bros.-owned DC, which he was tasked to run alongside Peter Safran.

Superman is the first superhero film to cross $100 million in its North American bow since Marvel Studios and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine launched to $211 million in summer 2024 (“superhero fatigue” has become part of the Hollywood lexicon). And it’s the first DC title to cross $100 million in eight long years since Wonder Woman debuted to $103.3 million in 2017.

To boot, it beat Zack Snyder’s 2013 film Man of Steel ($116.7 million) to rank as the biggest domestic launch ever for a solo Superman pic, not adjusted for inflation.

Snyder’s mash-up  Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice scored the biggest DC opening of all time when earning $166.6 million over Easter weekend in 2016. In 2006, Bryan Singer‘s Superman Returns unfurled midweek in North America for a six-day start of $84 million, including $52.5 million over the three-day weekend, which is considered the film’s official opening number.

Gunn’s movie is only the third Hollywood title of 2025 to launch north of $100 million after fellow Warners tentpole A Minecraft Movie, which opened to $162.8 million, and Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch, which sewed up $146 million in its debut. Crossing the century mark is no small feat for any movie in the post-pandemic era, and particularly for the troubled superhero genre.

Until now, Gunn was best known for being the mastermind behind Marvel’s blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. The second Guardians boasts his biggest domestic opening at $146.5 million. Superman isn’t likely to beat that record, but it did supplant 2013’s Guardians threequel ($118.2 million) to rank as his second best, not adjusted for inflation.

Heading into the weekend, Superman’s opening had been the subject of intense scrutiny. Ditto for the hype around the film; even President Donald Trump joined in on the action by posting a meme of himself on social media as the new Man of Steel.

While tracking services predicted Superman would gross north of $130 million, Warners and DC were more conservative in forecasting $100 million-plus. And even rival studios cautioned that the marketplace is over-saturated with male-skewing fare, between Universal’s Fourth of July blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth and F1: The Movie, from Apple Original Films in partnership with Warners.

According to Friday exit polls, 68 percent of Superman ticket buyers were male, while nearly two-thirds of the audience were between the ages of 18 and 34. While fanboys are known for rushing out on opening weekend, older moviegoers are likely to bide their time and avoid the crowds. And gender-wise, the makeup of the audience could even out to some degree. Nearly 50 percent of the gross came from Imax, Dolby Cinema and other PLF screens.

The pic should enjoy a long run thanks to strong word-of-mouth. Critics and audiences alike are embracing the film. The pic earned an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers, the same grade given to Man of Steel and ahead of Superman Returns‘ B+. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is a stellar 94 percent, while the critics’ score is a pleasing 82 percent. The event title is also playing to an ethnically diverse audience, another key advantage.

Superman stars David Corenswet in the titular role, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Rounding out the cast are Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific.

The movie marks the first DC film entry for Gunn since he took over the reins of the superhero label with Safran in November 2022. Other upcoming DC Studios projects include HBO’s Green Lantern series, Lanterns, and a Supergirl movie due out in 2026.

Elsewhere at the box office, Jurassic World Rebirth stomped past the $500 million mark at the worldwide box office in its sophomore outing in a major win for Universal and Amblin. In North America, it came in second with $40 million for a domestic tally of $232.1 million. It fell less than expected, or 57 percent, considering the competition posed by Superman and losing some PLF screens. Overseas, it took in $68.1 million for an early global cume of $529.5 million. Rebirth came in well ahead of Superman in China, where it is only days away from becoming the top-grossing Hollywood title of the year so far after earning another $10.8 million this weekend for a cume of $62.7 million.

The tentpole continues to exceed expectations after grossing $147.8 million domestically in its first five days over the July Fourth corridor, including $92 million for the July 5- 7 weekend (it opened on Wednesday, July 2, to take advantage of the long holiday).

Joseph Kosinski’s F1: The Movie also has plenty of gas left in the tank despite losing Imax screens to Superman. It dropped just 50 percent in its third weekend to roughly $13 million for an estimated domestic tally of $136 million and north of $375 million globally.

Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s live-action blockbuster How to Train Your Dragon stayed high up on the chart in its fifth weekend as it roared past the $550 million mark globally. It placed fourth in North America with $7.8 million for a domestic tally of $239.8 million. Overseas, it added $13 million to its coffers for a foreign total of $320.9 million and $560.8 million globally.

Pixar’s ill-fated Elio rounded out the top five domestically with $3.9 million in its fourth weekend as it crossed $100 million in worldwide ticket sales, including $63.7 million in North America and $53.6 million overseas.

More to come.

July 13, 8:34 a.m.: Updated with revised weekend estimates.

This article was originally published July 12 at 9:23 a.m.