Superman (2025) Box Office Thread

[donuts]

Italy | TUE July 22nd:

1. Superman | €153,233 | Tot. €3,995,024

It just BARELY fell short of €4M, which will happen today.

MOS ended its run with €4.8M in Italy. Superman Returns made €5.4M. I expect Superman to pass the €5M mark by the end of its run if it holds up like this. We'll see, with F4 debuting today.

It would be a performance that is also comparable to the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie, which made €5.6M.

Vol. 2 and Vol. 3 then made €7.1M and €10.9M, respectively (a good example of how an audience builds over time).

The Suicide Squad made €2M in August '21 during COVID.

 

[Deck Rickard]

Thanks for the update on the Italy numbers. It’s really fascinating to see how these movies perform in different markets as we try to gauge how popular certain characters are around the world. How are superheroes and comics generally viewed in Italy and across Europe in general? Superheroes have dominated both movies and TV for so long in the US that I think it often makes us overestimate their worldwide appeal. And even if they do still have mass appeal worldwide, it’s not always the SAME superheroes that will hit.

But it’s good to know that Italy doesn’t hold a grudge against Superman for that one time he ****ed up the Tower of Pisa.

 

[The_Root]

Thanks for the update on the Italy numbers. It’s really fascinating to see how these movies perform in different markets as we try to gauge how popular certain characters are around the world. How are superheroes and comics generally viewed in Italy and across Europe in general? Superheroes have dominated both movies and TV for so long in the US that I think it often makes us overestimate their worldwide appeal. And even if they do still have mass appeal worldwide, it’s not always the SAME superheroes that will hit.

But it’s good to know that Italy doesn’t hold a grudge against Superman for that one time he ****ed up the Tower of Pisa.

They appreciated how he eventually fixed it.

 

[donuts]

Thanks for the update on the Italy numbers. It’s really fascinating to see how these movies perform in different markets as we try to gauge how popular certain characters are around the world. How are superheroes and comics generally viewed in Italy and across Europe in general? Superheroes have dominated both movies and TV for so long in the US that I think it often makes us overestimate their worldwide appeal. And even if they do still have mass appeal worldwide, it’s not always the SAME superheroes that will hit.

But it’s good to know that Italy doesn’t hold a grudge against Superman for that one time he ****ed up the Tower of Pisa.

I would say that superheroes have generally enjoyed the same popularity as in the United States. Superman is a pop culture icon here as he is in the States . The theatrical market just has many intricacies and details that will shape and influence the outcome of a movie. Often, it just takes the perfect storm to have something hit especially big.

In this case, post-Nolan, Man of Steel has been met with a lukewarm reception, and while they did respectable business, the one-two punch of Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad - which had people excited but ultimately didn't really deliver as movies for many - soured the audience on the idea of a DC Universe and the various brands attached to it.

There were exceptions, such as The Batman, Aquaman and Joker, but the rest were all over the place. Even Wonder Woman didn't quite break out the same here, grossing €3.5M (but audiences did seem to catch up with it afterwards).

All in all, I'd say it's been a pretty weird decade for DC media after the heights of the Dark Knight Trilogy, but starting out with a genuinely great movie such as Superman certainly helps cement the DC character(s) as "quality entertainment" once again.

The Flash, Aquaman 2 and Joker 2 muddied the waters somewhat after THe Batman had regained a certain trust, but even with that in mind, I'd say that Superman is fighting through it quite well. The hold speaks for itself.

 

[Deck Rickard]

I would say that superheroes have generally enjoyed the same popularity as in the United States. Superman is a pop culture icon here as he is in the States . The theatrical market just has many intricacies and details that will shape and influence the outcome of a movie. Often, it just takes the perfect storm to have something hit especially big.

In this case, post-Nolan, Man of Steel has been met with a lukewarm reception, and while they did respectable business, the one-two punch of Batman V Superman and Suicide Squad - which had people excited but ultimately didn't really deliver as movies for many - soured the audience on the idea of a DC Universe and the various brands attached to it.

There were exceptions, such as The Batman, Aquaman and Joker, but the rest were all over the place. Even Wonder Woman didn't quite break out the same here, grossing €3.5M (but audiences did seem to catch up with it afterwards).

All in all, I'd say it's been a pretty weird decade for DC media after the heights of the Dark Knight Trilogy, but starting out with a genuinely great movie such as Superman certainly helps cement the DC character(s) as "quality entertainment" once again.

The Flash, Aquaman 2 and Joker 2 muddied the waters somewhat after THe Batman had regained a certain trust, but even with that in mind, I'd say that Superman is fighting through it quite well. The hold speaks for itself.

Thanks for the insights. Yeah, I’m not surprised that WB eroded a lot of the good will that Nolan built up tor them with the TDK movies once they released the Snyder films and the first Suicide Squad. Makes sense that The Batman brought people back and it’s good to hear that crap like Aquaman 2 and The Flop didn’t turn people off the brand again. Really glad that people are vibing with Superman.

 

[donuts]

Thanks for the insights. Yeah, I’m not surprised that WB eroded a lot of the good will that Nolan built up tor them with the TDK movies once they released the Snyder films and the first Suicide Squad. Makes sense that The Batman brought people back and it’s good to hear that crap like Aquaman 2 and The Flop didn’t turn people off the brand again. Really glad that people are vibing with Superman.

Another important thing to consider, the summer season and especially July and the first half of August are tricky in Italy.

In fact, important movies used to be released in the time between the end of August / September and the end of May, and distributors have slowly started to rely on the summer months in the 2000s.

I believe that Mission: Impossible 2 was one of the first high profile movies to be released in July in Italy.

There ARE movies that manage to break out in July and August, as well. Barbie comes to mind as being an especially huge summer (and overall) hit in Italy. Jurassic World Rebirth is particularly strong this year.

For example, The Dark Knight was released in July and made about €9.5M. A big summer hit, yet Warner Bros. decided to bank on The Dark Knight Rises some more and release it in the easier end of August spot instead of July, where it made €14.7M. (Batman Begins made €6.9 in June '05).

So yeah, there are so many elements to consider.

One thing I hold against the Italian branch of Warner Bros. is that they haven't made animated series featuring Superman more available this past year. It might've helped if kids would've more casually and easily come across episodes of Superman TAS, My Adventures with Superman, JL/JLU and others to actually get to know Superman before the new movie was released (but Warner's Int'l TV distribution is a bit of a blindspot for the company -- HBO Max launching in new territories through next year will likely help with that).

But the new movie will certainly take care of that for the future.

 

[donuts]

P.S.: Here's a chart of how each live-action movie from the 21st century featuring at least a Superman appearance did at the box office:

Interesting to note for Batman V Superman, it was released the Wednesday before Easter Weekend, and had made €6M by its first Monday (which was a holiday, as well). Legs betrayed it.

Here is one of superhero "reboots" or "resets" at the Italian box office:

Don't know why Fantastic Four 2005 is included, they likely counted the 1990s Roger Corman production even though it never got an official release.

Richard Donner's Superman: The Movie was the 3rd most successful movie of the 1978/79 season in Italy.

 

[SomeOldGuy]

10.1m Tuesday per ERC. Nice bump.

 

[Mysteryman]

10.1m Tuesday per ERC. Nice bump.

LOVE Discount Tuesday!

 

[flickchick85]

This should be passing MoS’s entire domestic total this weekend. Especially impressive because depending on whether or not you count the MoS Walmart screenings, it either opened a few million below it or just a few million over it, so they had essentially the same starting point. These legs are what it looks like when the general audience embraces your movie instead of rejecting it.

 

[The_Root]

This should be passing MoS’s entire domestic total this weekend. Especially impressive because depending on whether or not you count the MoS Walmart screenings, it either opened a few million below it or just a few million over it, so they had essentially the same starting point. These legs are what it looks like when the general audience embraces your movie instead of rejecting it.

And what happens when the director embraces the true heart of the character instead of deconstructing it.

 

[Superark]

LOVE Discount Tuesday!

I'm tempted to go see it again next Tuesday.

 

[Spider-Fan]

This should be passing MoS’s entire domestic total this weekend. Especially impressive because depending on whether or not you count the MoS Walmart screenings, it either opened a few million below it or just a few million over it, so they had essentially the same starting point. These legs are what it looks like when the general audience embraces your movie instead of rejecting it.

And the Snyderbros will continue moving the goal posts and trying to argue about international numbers and such on why this is a "flop." They went to the Snyder school of math. Same place he learned where Rebel Moon was seen by more people and had a larger footprint in pop culture than Barbie

 

[Superark]

This should be passing MoS’s entire domestic total this weekend. Especially impressive because depending on whether or not you count the MoS Walmart screenings, it either opened a few million below it or just a few million over it, so they had essentially the same starting point. These legs are what it looks like when the general audience embraces your movie instead of rejecting it.

Besides the general movie landscape, particularly with comic films, being completely different now, it's even more impressive when you consider the lack of star power this film carried in comparison to Man of Steel's.

 

[Business Time]

I agree with a previous poster that there's a lot of copium about the box office totals rn.

I'm cheering for this film to be a box office juggernaut, but things are about to change in the next 24 hours.


This film is sitting at around 420WW. Does it have another 200M in the tank? Objectively, I'm skeptical.

It's about to lose a lot of ground with a well-received Fantastic Four movie coming for it's screens. Losing the IMAX and the more expensive ticket options.


They touted 563M WW as the supposed break-even point, with the 2.5x multiplier. Hopefully that's good enough.

 

[flickchick85]

I agree with a previous poster that there's a lot of copium about the box office totals rn.

I'm cheering for this film to be a box office juggernaut, but things are about to change in the next 24 hours.


This film is sitting at around 420WW. Does it have another 200M in the tank? Objectively, I'm skeptical.

It's about to lose a lot of ground with a well-received Fantastic Four movie coming for it's screens. Losing the IMAX and the more expensive ticket options.


They touted 563M WW as the supposed break-even point, with the 2.5x multiplier. Hopefully that's good enough.

First of all, it’s closer to $430mil after Tuesday’s numbers right now and will be over $450mil by the time the weekend hits. Second, you’re putting way too much emphasis on the Worldwide total. The Domestic is always the one that matters most because the studio gets a MUCH higher percentage of that gross than they do from the international markets. That’s why the only franchises able to be carried by their international numbers are the ones that more than triple their domestic totals internationally, like the later Pirates and Transformers installments. Otherwise, domestic is what the studio cares about, period. And domestically, this movie is killing it. There’s no “copium” there, that’s a stone cold fact.

But if you care so much about WW numbers, it will still almost certainly cross $600mil WW too.

It’s a success, no question. Anybody trying to deny it is either unfamiliar with how the box office works or is arguing in bad faith.

 

[jokesonm3]

Tomorrow we'll finally find out how much FF will affect this film once an for all.

If it survives, handshakes all around.

 

[DCDAVE]

Not to disparage box office totals but MCU and Disney movies over the years have dominated the box office space because of lack of competition. Deadpool 3 and MCU Spider-Man 3 had no competition when those movies came out for at least 2 months maybe more. If two of Jurassic Rebirth, Superman, or F4 did not come out this month the one who stayed would have probably made a billion. All three movies are cutting into each other’s box office substantially. Without Jurassic Rebirth Superman probably makes over $150 million opening weekend domestically. We all know how much it cut into Superman overseas with the number of theaters showing Jurassic Rebirth.

 

[Galactus123]

Tomorrow we'll finally find out how much FF will affect this film once an for all.

If it survives, handshakes all around.

It gets released in the US on Friday so we will see the effect then.

 

[GreenKToo]

It's a huge success domestically and a sequel
( of sorts ) is all but guaranteed. And anyone saying it's not a success, is in complete denial.

That said, I think it will be too tempting for Gunn to have a team-up film with Supergirl instead of a making a straight up stand alone Superman sequel.
( I'd prefer a Superman sequel, but I get no say so)

For that reason, I don't think we will hear too much about another Superman film until Supergirl hits and we see it's box office numbers.

Until then, it will ( probably ) just be chatter and rumors, but who knows.

 

[Business Time]

First of all, it’s closer to $430mil after Tuesday’s numbers right now and will be over $450mil by the time the weekend hits. Second, you’re putting way too much emphasis on the Worldwide total. The Domestic is always the one that matters most because the studio gets a MUCH higher percentage of that gross than they do from the international markets. That’s why the only franchises able to be carried by their international numbers are the ones that more than triple their domestic totals internationally, like the later Pirates and Transformers installments. Otherwise, domestic is what the studio cares about, period. And domestically, this movie is killing it. There’s no “copium” there, that’s a stone cold fact.

But if you care so much about WW numbers, it will still almost certainly cross $600mil WW too.

It’s a success, no question. Anybody trying to deny it is either unfamiliar with how the box office works or is arguing in bad faith.

The Domestic has good holds for now amidst no worthwhile competition, but it's about to take a major hit in the days ahead, and losing a lot of Imax screens. We will see if the studio considers this a win or not in the days ahead, and whether they actually greenlight a Superman sequel (its iffy).

From someone who gave a positive review to the film (no bad faith), it's too early to brand this one as a 'success' or disappointment. youtube.com/watch?v=LpPpTbQrHeg

And yes, I'm aware of domestic versus international percentages. We'll see how that actually plays out.

Man of Steel had an 11% ROI (Return on Investment) theatrically, and that was considered a major disappointment to WB, investors and shareholders in 2013, hence no MOS solo Sequel.

Jurys still out on Superman's potential theatrical ROI.

 

[Mysteryman]

I'm tempted to go see it again next Tuesday.

Give into your temptations!

 

[Lily Adler]

This should be passing MoS’s entire domestic total this weekend. Especially impressive because depending on whether or not you count the MoS Walmart screenings, it either opened a few million below it or just a few million over it, so they had essentially the same starting point. These legs are what it looks like when the general audience embraces your movie instead of rejecting it.

 

[donuts]

Italy | WED July 23rd:

1. The Fantastic Four: First Steps | €882,497 | Tot. "
2. Superman | €99,287 | Tot. €4,095,433

 

[Moncton]

The Domestic has good holds for now amidst no worthwhile competition, but it's about to take a major hit in the days ahead, and losing a lot of Imax screens. We will see if the studio considers this a win or not in the days ahead, and whether they actually greenlight a Superman sequel (its iffy).

From someone who gave a positive review to the film (no bad faith), it's too early to brand this one as a 'success' or disappointment. youtube.com/watch?v=LpPpTbQrHeg

And yes, I'm aware of domestic versus international percentages. We'll see how that actually plays out.

Man of Steel had an 11% ROI (Return on Investment) theatrically, and that was considered a major disappointment to WB, investors and shareholders in 2013, hence no MOS solo Sequel.

Jurys still out on Superman's potential theatrical ROI.

Agreed, I don't think one can say whether it's a succes or not yet. A big factor will be F 4, not just on the impact it will have on Superman but if its total is significantly higher than Superman it will be a valid question as to why Superman could not perform at the same level given that the Marvel brand is also damaged.