James Gunn’s Superman finally crossed the $300 million mark at the domestic box office—but it took a while.
After 21 days in theaters, Superman has brought in $300 million domestically as of Thursday.
While that number sounds decent on the surface, it doesn’t hold up when you look a little closer, especially once inflation is factored in.
Man of Steel Did It Faster
Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel hit $219.8 million by day 12 in 2013. Adjusted for inflation, that’s over $304 million today—meaning Snyder’s movie crossed the $300 million line in under two weeks. It took Gunn’s version three full weeks.
We go over Man of Steel vs Superman here where Gunn’s version doesn’t even come close.
Even The Batman Beat It
Matt Reeves’ The Batman—starring Robert Pattinson—hit $300 million domestically on day 17, and finished with $369.3 million. Right now, Superman is trending below that pace, and it’s already dropped 57.5% in its third weekend compared to The Batman‘s drop of 44.8%.
Superman actually has actually been doing pretty well on the dailies during the week, but again, the weekends haven’t been coming close to The Batman.
No Movement Internationally
Internationally is where James Gunn’s Superman is really getting killed.
Foreign numbers have flatlined
Superman is still sitting at $214.1 million internationally. There’s been no new update since the weekend, which seems to be the only time we get international box office numbers for this movie.
Gunn needs to reconnect with the Asian audience
At Comic-Con, we were told the Asian audience completely rejected Gunn’s Superman. They hate what Gunn did with Jor-El, and they also hate that kaiju scene where Superman left the Asian woman on top the building (who saved her?).
Gunn definitely needs to reconnect with the Asian audience if he wants his DCU to be a big success. Warner Bros. hasn’t even reported on the Chinese numbers. Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel? A massive $63.44M without inflation. South Korea? Nearly $15M without inflation versus Gunn’s $6.1M (South Koreans also rejected Marvel’s Shang-Chi).
Where It Stands Among DC Movies
That said, Gunn’s Superman still hits a milestone, as Superman becomes the ninth DC film to cross $300 million domestically, joining:
- The Dark Knight – $534.9M
- The Dark Knight Rises – $448.1M
- Wonder Woman – $412.8M
- The Batman – $369.3M
- Joker – $335.4M
- Aquaman – $335.1M
- Batman v Superman – $330.3M
- Suicide Squad – $325.1M
Can Superman Catch Up?
Will Gunn’s Superman climb higher? Maybe. But right now, it’s lagging behind most of the pack and especially Snyder’s Man of Steel when you look at the numbers with even the slightest bit of context.
We’ve also been told that Gunn’s Superman has a much higher budget than is being reported. The spin is now that Gunn’s first Superman is the equivalent of Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins. You know what that means? Gunn is going to need a billion-dollar follow-up.
As of Wednesday, Superman‘s box office stands at $513,790,621.
