Box Office: James Gunn's ‘Superman' Flying to $55M Friday for $115M-$120M U.S. Opening
The highly anticipated superhero tentpole, from DC Studios and Warner Bros., is on course to top Friday's domestic box office chart with $55 million, including a record $22.5 million in Thursday previews and sneak Imax screening earlier in the week, according to early returns.
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Superman's opening has been the subject of intense scrutiny. Heading into the weekend, Warners and DC remained conservative in suggesting $100 million-plus, while Hollywood's leading tracking service predicted the pic would open to $130 million. It appears DC and Warners were right to manage expectations.
Despite the record-breaking preview gross, it now looks like Superman is headed for a domestic debut in the $115 million to $120 million range. That could change, of course, if there is heavy walk-up traffic. The hype around the film is enormous; 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 Superman won't break any major domestic records for Gunn as a director, it is a notable first step for the reconfigured DC Studios, which he runs with producer Peter Safran. Crossing $100 million is no small feat for any movie, and particularly for the fatigued superhero genre.
Superman would be the first superhero film to cross $100 million in its North American opening since Marvel Studios and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool & Wolverine launched to $211 million in summer 2024. And it's the first DC film to cross $100 million in eight long years since Wonder Woman debuted to $103.3 million in 2017. And it's only the third movie of 2025 so far to launch north of $100 million behind A Minecraft Movie, which opened to $162.8 million, and Lilo & Stitch, which started off with $146 million. Jurassic World Rebirth's official three-day opening was $92 million when it opened over the long July Fourth corridor and amassing $147.8 million in its first five days.
Rebirth is on course to gross $37 million in its second weekend for a domestic tally of nearly $230 million. Even as it falls 60 percent, it still poses competition for Superman. Ditto for the male-skewing F1: The Movie, which is on course to earn another $10 million this weekend.
The $22.5 million preview gross marked a career best for Gunn, who previously directed Marvel's blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. The second Guardians boasts Gunn's biggest domestic opening at $146.5 million, not adjusted for inflation. The third Guardians, debuting in 2023, opened to $118.2 million.
Gunn is in the unique position of being both the film's writer-director and the co-head of the Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios. Superman is also opening in 78 markets overseas, where it is likewise predicting an opening of $100 million-plus.
Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice broke records for a film featuring Clark Kent/Superman with a domestic opening of $166 million in 2016, not adjusted for inflation. The last solo Superman movie, Snyder's 2013 film Man of Steel, debuted to $116 million domestically. And almost two decades ago, Bryan Singer's Superman Returns posted a six-day North American opening of more than $84 million.
It's understandable why Gunn and his DC Studios co-head Peter Safran are skittish when it comes to tracking, which has been all over the map in recent months.
Superman stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, 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 Warner Bros' 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.
July 11, 1:24 p.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was originally published July 11 at 8:35 a.m.
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