Netflix CEO Confirms James Gunn’s Superman Underperformed

by

At a Senate hearing about the Netflix and Warner Bros. Discovery agreement, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos revealed surprising news about the upcoming Superman reboot, which is being directed by James Gunn.

Sarandos acknowledged the movie didn’t do as well as expected, and discussed the typical 45-day period films are shown in theaters before becoming available on streaming.

Sarandos Grilled on 45-Day Window

Around the 1 hour, 16 minute, and 17 second mark of the original YouTube video, Senator Cory Booker questioned Netflix’s Ted Sarandos about whether the company would commit to showing new films in theaters for a full 45 days before releasing them on streaming or for video-on-demand rental. This 45-day period has become the typical practice in the film industry.

BOOKER: “I want to ask a direct question: Will this be a fully exclusive 45-day theatrical window?”

SARANDOS: “Fully exclusive to theaters, yes.”

When questioned about how firmly this rule is applied, Sarandos offered a revealing answer, mentioning James Gunn’s Superman as an example.

SARANDOS explained that the typical practice in the movie industry is self-regulation regarding release windows. However, depending on a film’s performance, these windows are sometimes adjusted. For example, Superman had a slightly shorter window, while Sinners had a slightly longer one, but they were both still generally considered to be within a 45-day timeframe.

Ted Sarandos publicly acknowledged what many industry insiders and we previously reported: the Superman series created by James Gunn didn’t perform as well as hoped.

It was clear that after seeing the initial reaction, Warner Bros. decided to release Superman sooner than planned. They even made it available to rent or buy digitally just 35 days after it hit theaters, which was a pretty quick turnaround!

Watch the video:

Gunn’s Superman Didn’t Meet Expectations

Sarandos specifically pointing out that Superman didn’t perform well compared to Sinners indicates the movie likely fell significantly short of its expected earnings.

Although he attempted to explain it as standard for the film industry, his statement marks the first time a high-ranking executive has publicly admitted that Superman didn’t perform well enough to warrant a complete cinema release.

As a big film fan, I was definitely surprised when the movie came out on demand so quickly. Considering it reportedly cost over $350 million to make, and was originally intended to launch James Gunn’s entire new DC Universe, it felt a bit unusual. Things have shifted now, with Warner Bros. Discovery’s sale, and the DC reboot is now being called the “Superman Family Saga” instead – it’s a lot of changes happening!

Warner Bros. scheduled the next Minecraft movie just two weeks after James Gunn’s Superman sequel, Man of Tomorrow, is due out in 2027. That timing is certainly interesting, isn’t it?

Read More

2026-02-04 02:02