When David Corenswet was announced as the new Superman, people had mixed reactions to the news. However, it looks like his film has proven everyone who ever doubted him wrong, as it’s all set to soar past Henry Cavill’s Man of Steel in terms of profit.
According to Variety, Superman is on track to generate $125 million in profits alone during its theatrical run. The film that marks a new beginning for DCU was made on a budget of $225 million (via The Numbers). So far, it has generated over $600 million at the box office. Its opening weekend saw earnings of $125 million.
| Movie | Budget | Box Office (via The Numbers) | IMDb Rating | Rotten Tomatoes Score |
| Man of Steel | $225 million | $667 million | 7.1/10 | 57% |
| Superman | $225 million | $614 million | 7.3/10 | 83% |
As for Man of Steel, it made a profit of $42.7 million for Warner Bros. (via Deadline). This means that Superman is expected to make $82.3 million more in profit than the Zack Snyder fan favorite. In other words, it’s on track to make almost 3x more than Man of Steel in profits.
James Gunn Gets Candid About the Success of David Corenswet’s Success
If there’s someone happier than Corenswet about the film’s success, it’s James Gunn. The man was doubted by everyone who worried he’d bring the MCU into the DC world. Clearly, he got the last laugh (and a sequel).
Gunn took to Threads to express his gratitude for his film’s reception and thanked fans for their enthusiasm and kind words. All in all, he is just happy he got to focus on the “Man” side of Superman, rather than the “Super”.
View on Threads
Elsewhere, he seemed quite relieved with how well the film’s doing. He said, “It’s just an enormous sense of relief. It’s relief, and then followed very quickly by excitement” (via CBM). Gunn added that with Superman out of the way, he now has the “freedom to tell these other stories in a way that’s really exciting“, without the need to worry about the “life and death of the DC brand” as he was before.
Superman Is Just One of Warner Bros.’ Many Recent Successes
With the inclusion of Superman, Warner Bros. has just made box office history. How, well as Variety puts it, the production house now has seven consecutive films that have opened above $40 million in theaters.
This includes The Conjuring: Last Rites, F1, Sinners, Weapons, and more. Take a look at the films and what they made during their opening weekends:
| Movie | Opening Weekend |
| The Conjuring: Last Rites | $187 million |
| A Minecraft Movie | $162 million |
| Sinners | $48 million |
| Final Destination Bloodlines | $51.6 million |
| F1 | $57 million |
| Superman | $125 million |
| Weapons | $43.5 million |
This comes after the last stretch proved to be disappointing for Warner Bros. with films like Mickey 17 and Joker: Folie a Deux.
Analyst David A. Gross told the outlet, “The studio made outstanding choices and took some big creative risks, and they’re paying off.” However, he also warned that a time will come when things won’t be as great. In his words,
“Studios get hot, and studios get cold. Just before this, they weathered a long, bad run. It won’t last forever. Hopefully they’ll remember this [run] when they go on a cold steak. That’ll happen too; it always does.”
No other studio has achieved this yet, and who knows, perhaps the streak is here to stay for a long, long time. What do you think about Superman and Warner Bros.’ success? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Rent/buy Superman on Amazon Video. Stream Man of Steel on HBO Max.
