James Gunn's Superman has made a heck of an impression on moviegoers. The film currently holds an 82% critics score and a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, highlighting just how triumphant the Man of Steel's DC Universe debut has proven to be. It's also making waves at the box office, debuting to an incredible $122 million domestically - above original projections.
So, no, in spite of the false claims that the movie is "too woke" and that it would harm its box office takings in the US, Superman is not struggling with US audiences. In fact, its overperformance highlights that audiences could use a lot more of what the beloved DC superhero stands for these days.
Superman is off to a great start and, with another two weeks to go before Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps comes out, that streak of success will likely continue through its second week. However, there is one concern that fans have had about its performance - and it has nothing to do with the domestic markets.
Superman is performing better in the US than it is around the world
The US might be divided over a lot of things right now, but the love of Superman isn't one of them. Like we said, the film opened above expectations, soaring to the top of the box office with at least $122 million (with the potential for final numbers to be even better). However, internationally, the film isn't doing quite as well.
The film brought in $95 million internationally through its opening weekend which, as described by Variety is "slightly softer-than-expected". Now, that's not an immediate cause for concern as the film's overperformance in the US made up for those slight shortcomings, but it may be a factor in the coming weeks as the film continues to face some hefty competition.
The optics of a Superman movie not grossing $100 million across international markets in its first weekend is no doubt going to be a topic of conversation going forward but there are some understandable reasons for those numbers. For starters, Jurassic World Rebirth is continuing to dominate the box office in its second week, already achieving a global cume of $529 million. That film was a massive in international markets, which complemented its strong US performance (which was admittedly a little lower than previous entries in the franchise).
Releasing Superman just one week after this one might be a somewhat questionable decision, especially when there is so much riding on the Man of Steel's success for the DC Universe. The film cost $225 million to produce and experts are saying that it will need to bring in around $500 million to break even. Those numbers are more than reachable after its great opening weekend performance, but the story here will be how those international numbers hold up in Week 2.
Let's not downplay Superman's success here. The film has already achieved one of the highest-grossing previews of all time, one of the best opening weekends of the year, and the highest-ever opening for a solo Superman movie. The DC Universe is clearly off to a very strong start and, after that opening weekend, it should continue.
It's just worth bearing in mind that those numbers - especially on the international side of things - could have been a whole lot higher if it didn't have to compete with Jurassic World Rebirth. The upcoming release of Marvel Studios' The Fantastic Four: First Steps might also cut into its legs.
Hopefully that won't be the case and the Man of Steel will continue to fly high, because the DC Universe needs this win. And, well, so far, so good.
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