James Gunn‘s Superman is headed for a possible record domestic box office debut of $115 million to $120 million after topping Friday’s chart with $56.5 million, including a hefty $22.5 million in previews.
The movie appears to be succeeding in rebooting DC Studios and its most iconic comic book franchise. Gunn is in the unique position of being both the film’s writer-director and the co-head of the Warner Bros.-owned DC, which he runs with Peter Safran. Superman is also opening in 78 markets overseas, where it is likewise predicting an opening of $100 million-plus against a net budget of $225 million before a hefty marketing spend.
Superman will be the first superhero film to cross $100 million in its North American opening since Marvel Studios and Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool & Wolverine launched to $211 million in summer 2024 (“superman fatigue” has become part of the Hollywood lexicon). And it’s the first DC title to cross $100 million in eight long years since Wonder Woman debuted to $103.3 million in 2017.
And if it comes in above $116.7 million, Gunn’s pic will boast the biggest launch for a solo Superhero pic, no adjusted for inflation of course.
Gunn’s movie is only the third Hollywood title of 2025 to launch north of $100 million after A Minecraft Movie, which zoomed to $162.8 million, and Lilo & Stitch, which sewed up $146 million. Crossing $100 million is no small feat for any movie in the post-pandemic era, and particularly for the troubled superhero genre.
Gunn is best known for being the mastermind behind Marvel’s blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. The second Guardians boasts Gunn’s biggest domestic opening at $146.5 million, not adjusted for inflation. The third Guardians, debuting in 2023, started off with$118.2 million.
Heading into the weekend, Superman’s opening had been the subject of intense scrutiny. Ditto for the hype around the film; even President Donald Trump joined in on the action by posting a meme of himself on social media as the new Man of Steel. While tracking services thought Superman would come in north of $130 million, even rival studios cautioned that the marketplace is saturated in terms male-skewing fare, between Universal’s Fourth of July blockbuster Jurassic World Rebirth and F1: The movie, from Apple Original Films and Warner Bros.
According to Friday exit polls, 68 percent of Superman ticket buyers were male, while nearly two thirds of the audience were between the ages of 18 and 34. While fanboys are know for rushing out on opening weekend, older moviegoers are likely to bide their time and avoid the crowds. And gender-wise, the make-up of the audience should even out.
The pic hopes to be boosted by positive word of mouth and enjoy a long run. Critics and audiences alike are embracing the film, which earned an A- CinemaScore from moviegoers, the same grade given to Man of Steel and ahead of the B+ given to Superman Returns. And the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is a stellar 94 percent (the critics’ score is 82 percent). Another key advantage is that the theJuly event title is playing to an ethnically diverse audience.
Superman won’t break any major domestic records for Gunn as a director, who is best known for being the mastermind behind Marvel’s blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. The second Guardians boasts Gunn’s biggest domestic opening at $146.5 million, not adjusted for inflation. The third Guardians, debuting in 2023, opened to $118.2 million.
In regards to the Superhero franchise, Zack Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice shattered records with a domestic opening of $166 million in 2016, not adjusted for inflation. The last solo Superman movie, Snyder’s 2013 film Man of Steel, debuted to $116.7 million domestically. And nearly two decades ago, Bryan Singer‘s Superman Returns posted a six-day North American opening of more than $84 million.
Superman stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Rounding out the cast are Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho and Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific.
The movie marks the first DC film entry for Gunn since he took over the reins of the superhero label with Safran in November 2022. Other upcoming DC Studios projects include HBO’s Green Lantern series Lanterns, and a Supergirl movie due out in 2026.
Elsewhere at the box office, Jurassic World Rebirth looks to collect nearly $39 million in its sophomore outing for a North American war chest of $230.9 million. The tentpole racked up $147.8 million in its first five days — it opened July 2, a Wednesday, to take advantage of the long holiday — including $92 million for the three days weekend, it’s official opening number.
F1: The Movie, which is on course to earn another $10 million this weekend, is parked in third place as it approaches $140 million in North American ticket sales. Family friendly pics How to Train Your Dragon and Elio will round out the top five.
Numbers will be updated Sunday morning.
