Will James Gunn’s Superman be more than Man of Steel in his beginnings to the box office?

One of the biggest films of the year is fast approaching, because “Superman” by director James Gunn is preparing to go up to theaters. It’s not just any other superhero film; This is really the start of the new DC universe assembled in Warner Bros. (All the respect due to the “creature commandos”). Gunn, known better as director of the “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy of Marvel, directs the DC studios alongside producer Peter Safran. The question is: Can this restart of Golden Boy of DC pass the reworked DCU that the extended universe of DC (DCEU) has been more than ten years?

When writing these lines, “Superman” should stop between $ 130 and $ 171 million at the national level when it opened next weekend, by box office theory. These figures are very slightly decreasing from the first projections, which made the Gunn film pulled between 90 and $ 185 million, according to which you spoke. Meanwhile, follow-up in mid-June had the blockbuster that stops more than $ 135 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Warner Bros. previously launched its first lively cinematographic universe, alias the DCEU, with “Man of Steel” by director Zack Snyder in 2013, just a year after “The Dark Knight Rises” by Christopher Nolan completed his Batman trilogy. Snyder’s taking on Superman, with Henry Cavill, opened $ 116.9 million at the national level, which was, by 2013, a solid launch.

“Man of Steel” has completed his box office race with $ 668 million worldwide against a budget of $ 225 million. Interestingly, Gunn’s “Superman” would carry a very similar production budget. What is interesting is that, not adjusted for inflation, if the pre-sales are cooling and this film even opens a little below current projections, it could have an almost identical opening to the divisor version of Snyder of the titular character. 12 years later and yet he remains the same.

The details of the broader intrigue for “Superman” were surprisingly maintained mainly under the Wraps. The trailers have clearly indicated that it is not an original story and that there will be several bad guys to face. Among those who join David Corenswet (Clark Kent / Superman) in the distribution are Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Nicholas Hoult (Lex Luthor), Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner) and Edi Gathegi (Mister Terrific).

The problem is largely that monitoring of the box office has become much less reliable lately. Recently, for example, “M3gan 2.0” was on the right track to win $ 30 million before opening at only $ 10 million. On the other hand, there are films that blow from past projections like “A Minecraft Movie”, which has had the largest domestic opening of 2025 so far with $ 162.7 million. The critical buzz could be the X factor here. If criticisms and first audiences like Gunn’s “Superman”, an opening closer to $ 150 million could be in the cards. But if Buzz cools up as the weekend approaches? $ 100 million may seem more realistic.

To be clear, only two films – “a film Minecraft” and “Lilo & Stitch” – have opened to more than $ 100 million at the national level in 2025. Thus, everything that is north of $ 100 million would be a huge business for WB. It is also only part of the equation, because the international public will play a major factor here. “Man of Steel” made almost 57% of his money abroad. But the presses in China were soft for “Superman”, with the competition from “Jurassic World Rebirth” being a consideration.

For WB, Gunn and Safran, this is more than a film. They have high plans, with “Supergirl” and “Clayface” which should arrive in theaters next year, as well as “Lanterns” on HBO Max. This means that “Superman” must help involve the public with a new DC universe. But that should not mean $ 1 billion in the box office. “Iron Man” won $ 585 million and the Marvel cinematographic universe was built on his back. The pressure is certainly on, but let’s not load this film either with unreasonable expectations either.

“Superman” will be released in theaters on July 11, 2025.