James Gunn’s new iteration of Superman, starring David Corenswet as the titular superhero, has finally given DC a long-awaited hit. It became the first DC title to surpass $100 million in its opening weekend since Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman in 2017. With its $122 million opening in North America, Superman has also surpassed Zack Snyder’s 2013 reboot Man of Steel, starring Henry Cavill, which fetched an opening of $116 million. However, it remains far behind the $166 million launch for Snyder’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016.
Superman box office worldwide
Superman is DC’s first success after a streak of flops, including Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux last year, Andres Muschietti’s The Flash (2023), and David F Sandberg’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023). Superman is intended as a new start. It’s the first release fully steered by Gunn and Peter Safran, co-heads of DC Studios, as part of their new DC Universe.
Superman has also allowed Warner Bros to continue its roll at the box office. After duds like George Miller’s Furiosa: The Mad Max Saga last year, Warner Bros has maintained its stronghold this year with A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, Final Destination Bloodlines, and F1, all of which, along with Superman, opened above $45 million in the US.
Superman is one of only three films to debut with more than $100 million in domestic ticket sales in 2025 as moviegoing lingers below pre-pandemic levels. Globally as well, Superman earned over $95 million across 78 international markets including China ($6.6 million), leading to a global opening of $217 million. The film was made on a budget of $225 million.
Superman box office India
In India, Superman collected Rs 25.50 crore over the opening across all four languages in the 3D version. It opened on Friday at Rs 7 crore, followed by a steady rise on Saturday at Rs 9.5 crore, but an uncharacteristic slight dip on Sunday at Rs 9 crore. The native English version registered the lion’s share, followed by the dubbed Hindi, Telugu, and Tamil versions respectively.
With its opening weekend collection in India, Superman has surpassed that of the major Hindi release this week, Pulkit’s action drama Maalik, starring Rajkummar Rao, which collected Rs 14.25 crore over the opening weekend. For the third time in a month, a Hollywood release has beaten its Bollywood counterpart at the Indian box office. Last month, Brad Pitt’s F1 surpassed Kajol-starrer Maa, whereas earlier this month, Scarlett Johansson-starrer Jurassic World Rebirth opened bigger than Sara Ali Khan-starrer Metro… In Dino.
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With the new Superman, Gunn steers the Man of Steel in a drastically different tonal direction than in previous iterations from Snyder. Skipping the Kansas origin story, the film instead picks up with Superman after his first defeat. Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult is Lex Luthor. John Cena also pops up for a cameo as Peacemaker.
