Superman Box Office Stalls Short Of $600M: The Batman Did It In 18 Days

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According to the most recent reports, the earnings from the cinema run of the latest Superman movie, which has been showing for five weekends and a total of 31 days, are yet to reach the $600 million mark, as directed by James Gunn. In simpler terms, despite being in cinemas for over three weeks, the new Superman film hasn’t quite managed to earn $600 million at the box office.

Matt Reeves’ The Batman hit that mark in only 18 days.

Man of Steel still wins

Many times we’ve discussed this, but let me reassure the Zack Snyder enthusiasts: James Gunn’s version of Superman isn’t likely to reach the $670 million grossed by Man of Steel, even when you factor in inflation.

In my opinion, Snyder’s “Man of Steel” not only earned critical acclaim but also raked in over $402 million domestically when adjusted for inflation – a feat that even Gunn’s “Superman” may struggle to replicate.

Despite any comparative discussion considering inflation, there’s no denying that Snyder’s “Man of Steel” attracted significantly larger audiences than Gunn’s “Superman”.

Latest Superman box office numbers

Back to the Superman box office, in weekend #5, the flick brought in $7.8M. The Batman? $11M.

After 31 days, “The Batman” earned approximately $20 million at the box office. If Gunn’s “Superman” follows a similar pattern, it’s estimated that the movie would finish with a domestic total of around $351 million (further details below).

Yet, the more substantial narrative unfolding is that Gunn’s Superman is struggling significantly overseas. Over the weekend, it earned approximately $4 million internationally, as per the most recent reports (which may be subject to change).

Grosses as of Sunday

  • Domestic (57.2%): $331,243,139
  • International (42.8%): $247,600,000
  • Worldwide: $578,843,139

Who didn’t Gunn p-ss off?

Perhaps if Gunn hadn’t alienated the global audience, they may have attended (one wonders how much was spent on their unsuccessful “global” marketing campaign. Could attending Comic-Con have been a better investment instead?).

It appears that Gunn’s portrayal in his work has caused some dissatisfaction among the Asian community. Specifically, they strongly disliked the kaiju scene, found it upsetting when Superman left an Asian woman alone on a building, and were particularly offended by the depiction of Jor-El’s family as evil, which they perceive as an insensitive portrayal of immigrants. It is unclear if this was Gunn’s intended message, but it has led to feelings of disrespect among some members of the Asian community.

Clearly, it seems that Gunn’s decision to have Lex kill Superman’s friend likely angered individuals from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and India/Pakistan in the film. It appears that apart from possibly dog lovers, no one was pleased with this movie.

Superman final box office projections

If Gunn’s “Superman” earns an additional $20 million domestically, bringing the total box office to approximately $600 million. The question remains about its earnings from the foreign market; I previously forecasted a worldwide gross of around $630 million for “Superman”. Given that it’s set to release digitally in two weeks, let’s see if it will indeed reach this figure or surpass it.

Gunn is counterattacking too, refuting suggestions that the movie must earn $650 million just to turn a profit. In fact, according to what I’ve heard, the budget is significantly more than $225 million. On a positive note, Zaslav does have something impressive to boast about – they are outperforming Marvel in some respects.

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2025-08-11 16:33