It was “up, up and away” for James Gunn’s “Superman” reboot, which finished No. 1 at the box office with a $122 million opening weekend.
Warner Bros. Pictures’ latest blockbuster beat early estimates of around $90 million for the weekend and surpassed last weekend’s top hit “Jurassic World Rebirth,” which grossed $40 million this weekend.
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“Superman is on the Mount Rushmore of superheroes. All eyes were on this movie,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. “So, this is the gift that hopefully will keep on giving for DC Studios.”
DC Studios’ movies have historically been less popular than the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In 2017, DC’s “Justice League” grossed $229 million domestically, while Marvel’s “Avengers: Infinity War” grossed $678.8 domestically the following year. Marvel films haven’t been as popular with audiences in recent years, which some experts attribute to “superhero fatigue.”
Dergarabedian said the performance of “Superman” means “we can put that to bed” because “it’s all about the individual movie.”
Blockbuster hits over the last several months have lifted the summer box office 16% compared to the same time last year, according to Comscore. The overall box office is closing in on $5 billion for all of 2025 and summer earnings currently total about $2.35 billion, according to Comscore data.
Shawn Robbins, director of analytics at Fandango and founder and owner of Box Office Theory, said it’s still possible to reach a $4 billion summer, but the box office may be held back by June’s underperformers. Disney’s “Elio,” for instance, opened to a mere $20 million despite positive reviews.
Big performers like “Superman” can help close the gap.
“This is kind of the nature of the box office nowadays. We see so much feast or famine-type of weekends, it just takes one movie to bust out beyond expectation,” Robbins said.
“This summer, the wealth is spread among so many movies,” he said.
“Superman” is the third movie to gross more than $100 million over a three-day opening this year. The first movie to do so was Warner Bros. Pictures’ “A Minecraft Movie” in April and Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” in May.
“Lilo & Stitch” has been the big winner this summer, grossing over $414 million since opening on Memorial Day weekend, and is closing in on the year’s biggest earner, “A Minecraft Movie” ($423 million), which jolted the box office from a disappointing first quarter.
“Superman” isn’t the last superhero movie of the summer. The next big blockbuster is expected to be Disney’s “Fantastic Four,” which opens on July 25. Robbins believes Disney’s “Freakier Friday,” the sequel to the 2003 release of Disney’s “Freaky Friday,” could end up being a breakout in August.
Hollywood ultimately relies on big hits in July, so it’s important for “Fantastic Four” and “Superman” to perform well, Robbins said.
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