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[jason10mm]

They needed two things, the codex and a genesis chamber, both were on earth; earth also already has tons of resources and infrastructure, much easier to build a new society there instead of a barren shithole like mars.

When you can move at super speed, melt rock with your eyes, freeze stuff with your breath, fly in a vacuum, and are nearly indestructable, I'm not sure the phrase "barren shithole" has the same meaning

Just give them Australia. They could solve the blue ringed octopus+death, huntsman spider=death, EVERY snake=death, Dropbears=death problem

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

I'm not sure the phrase "barren shithole" has the same meaning

they would only have a fraction of that after terraforming, and they don't want to live in caves either.

 

[jason10mm]

they would only have a fraction of that after terraforming, and they don't want to live in caves either.

Presumably they could just lift packages up into low earth orbit where it would be easy to boost them to their new planet (assuming they couldn't actually fly between planets themselves). So just a couple kryptonians working together could move hundreds of tons of material to Mars to build a new society there.

I'm not saying that's what Zod would do, just that he COULD. There are plenty of options below "mass extermination of humans" and above "kryptonian culture dies tonight".

 

[Reizo Ryuu]

So just a couple kryptonians working together could move hundreds of tons of material to Mars to build a new society there.

Not really, as said they'd only have a fraction of their powers on a krypton terraformed planet, it would still take ages to actually build civilisation with only ~8 people, even the outposts with advanced krypton tech just died out; also there's no guarantee they wouldn't just come and take earth and its resources anyway after there are thousands/millions of them so there's no way clark would give them the codex.

 

[Klosshufvud]

One thing that pissed me off about man of steel is. Zod did seem like a reasonable person and just wanted what was best for his race.

They travelled the stars in a world engine? They could have just used the machine on mars or an other planet to make a new Krypton. Obviously no big final battle.

Film villains rarely work off a perfect logic - this is why they're villains. As for Zod, he's not at all reasonable. His purpose to save Krypton at all costs made him dangerous to Earth. There is a line where Zod says the foundation to Krypton has to be built on something, and the movie also says Earth's atmosphere has made Clark stronger. There are a lot of plausible reasons as to why a flawed man like Zod would opt for this lucrative planet knowing that. Besides, it's not like they had much choice being picky given their grave situation and already battling Clark for the codex on Earth. Clark wasn't going to let them build a new Krypton next to Earth anyways knowing Krypton's ways and fate.

 

[VulcanRaven]

I didn't expect it to reach 550 million this fast:



"Eyeing a 640M-680M Global run."

 

[Escape Goat]

I was enjoying myself for the most part up until the end of Act 2. I was super worried when Lex was giving Ultraman fight commands remote. And then they doubled down with the final fight. Holy crap.

Act 3 really shits the bed. I was ready to get up and go by that point but I held out hope Gunn would stick the landing. Ultimately nothing of real substance came together. It was just spectacle and nothing else. 3 minutes screen time with the Kent's packed more emotional stakes than all the scenes between Lois and Superman which is odd seeing how Gunn got me to care about 5 people in Guardians I never knew much about in one movie but here I didn't feel much for anybody.

Its really disappointing seeing Fantastic 4 and Superman have so much right but just cant put them together into anything remarkable.

I give it 2 and a half Stars.

 

[DeafTourette]

It's past the break even point according to John Campea

 

[Madflavor]

My guess is that it'll end up in the $600 - $630m range WW once all said and done.

It's past the break even point according to John Campea

I think you're referring to this video:


But the interesting point is at 5:30

I've been saying this multiple times, and it's the problem with people holding that 2.5x multiplier as the gold standard for when a film becomes profitable, and that if you don't hit that mark you just flat out lose money. There's so much more at play in terms of how a film profits, that goes beyond Box Office. Too many people think a film comes out, makes $500 million dollars, and then just stops cold right there in terms of revenue.

There is also that old saying "actions speak louder than words." In other words, watch what they do, not what they say. A Superman sequel is being written. That tells you all you need to know about whether or not WB considers the film a success.

 

[DKehoe]

 

[negator2vc]

There is also that old saying "actions speak louder than words." In other words, watch what they do, not what they say. A Superman sequel is being written. That tells you all you need to know about whether or not WB considers the film a success.

Seriously? You expected to abandon the new DCU (of which Superman is one of the main star) after the first movie?
The sequel would have been written in any case (where they considered the Superman movie a success or not)
Beside writing a script cost little, making the actual movie cost a lot more

 

[Madflavor]

Seriously? You expected to abandon the new DCU (of which Superman is one of the main star) after the first movie?
The sequel would have been written in any case (where they considered the Superman movie a success or not)
Beside writing a script cost little, making the actual movie cost a lot more

I didn't say they'd abandon the DCU, those are not my words. But if Superman was an outright box office bomb, it would make no sense for them to make a sequel, especially so soon. Why would you invest another $200+ million dollars on making a sequel to a film audiences rejected?

 

[negator2vc]

I didn't say they'd abandon the DCU, those are not my words. But if Superman was an outright box office bomb, it would make no sense for them to make a sequel, especially so soon. Why would you invest another $200+ million dollars on making a sequel to a film audiences rejected?

We are talking about Hollywood. A lot of stupid stuff they did the last 10-15 years didn't make any sense but they did them anyway (and still doing them).

 

[Madflavor]

We are talking about Hollywood. A lot of stupid stuff they did the last 10-15 years didn't make any sense but they did them anyway (and still doing them).

Ok so if Superman bombed at the box office, you still think they would've made a sequel, based on Hollywood being stupid. Got it.

 

[negator2vc]

Ok so if Superman bombed at the box office, you still think they would've made a sequel, based on Hollywood being stupid. Got it.

I will let Disney answer that . They love being stupid. .

 

[jason10mm]

I've been saying this multiple times, and it's the problem with people holding that 2.5x multiplier as the gold standard for when a film becomes profitable, and that if you don't hit that mark you just flat out lose money. There's so much more at play in terms of how a film profits, that goes beyond Box Office. Too many people think a film comes out, makes $500 million dollars, and then just stops cold right there in terms of revenue.

It is kinda true now though, since the collapse of the rental/DVD market a film has the box office....and that's about it. What is this film gonna bring for HBO Max? Another 20 mill subscribers? Unlikely. There will be some PPV income and some DVD sales, but nothing like the heyday of that market. Is superman pushing merch? Perhaps, though I've not seen a ton of stuff. Maybe generalized awareness of superman went up so cartoon stuff sells a little better (bedsheets, towels, lunchboxes, etc) but the toy market is almost as dead as DVDs. Superman in Fortnite? That might move the needle.

My point is that these types of ULTRA high budget films are not made to "break even", they are waaaaaaay too risky for that. These films need to bring in HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS in BO, merch, and rental sales to fund the NEXT big expensive gamble. A film like Joker 2 can CRUSH a studio overnight, and probably crushed more than a few careers. Superman 2025 has a lot riding on it, regardless of what they say, this was 'supposed' to hit in the 700-800 mill range at best. Had the international market done its part that would have been the case, but that time seems to have passed. Had they gotten a few high profile kpop or chinese stars to play some side roles (with additional content for asian markets) maybe it would have done better there?

 

[Madflavor]

It is kinda true now though, since the collapse of the rental/DVD market a film has the box office....and that's about it. What is this film gonna bring for HBO Max? Another 20 mill subscribers? Unlikely. There will be some PPV income and some DVD sales, but nothing like the heyday of that market. Is superman pushing merch? Perhaps, though I've not seen a ton of stuff. Maybe generalized awareness of superman went up so cartoon stuff sells a little better (bedsheets, towels, lunchboxes, etc) but the toy market is almost as dead as DVDs. Superman in Fortnite? That might move the needle.

My point is that these types of ULTRA high budget films are not made to "break even", they are waaaaaaay too risky for that. These films need to bring in HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS in BO, merch, and rental sales to fund the NEXT big expensive gamble. A film like Joker 2 can CRUSH a studio overnight, and probably crushed more than a few careers. Superman 2025 has a lot riding on it, regardless of what they say, this was 'supposed' to hit in the 700-800 mill range at best. Had the international market done its part that would have been the case, but that time seems to have passed. Had they gotten a few high profile kpop or chinese stars to play some side roles (with additional content for asian markets) maybe it would have done better there?

The loss of the DVD market was an enormous blow to studios, but there are still plenty of others ways a film recoups it's costs, both for the actual budget and the marketing. Ideally they should shrink the budget of these films, but you can only shrink them by so much. Shit is just expensive to make, pure and simple, and the actors of Superman are going to expect better pay for the sequel.

People may not like the idea, but AI is probably going to be the most viable answer to this problem when it comes to cutting costs.

 

[jason10mm]

The loss of the DVD market was an enormous blow to studios, but there are still plenty of others ways a film recoups it's costs, both for the actual budget and the marketing. Ideally they should shrink the budget of these films, but you can only shrink them by so much. Shit is just expensive to make, pure and simple, and the actors of Superman are going to expect better pay for the sequel.

People may not like the idea, but AI is probably going to be the most viable answer to this problem when it comes to cutting costs.

They can cut costs by filming the damn thing in one go, having a shot list that covers their bases for editing and also limits extraneous plotlines that will get cut anyway (I got a buddy that has spent WEEKS on various films and EVERY DAMNED SCENE he has EVER made has been cut) and then really cutting back on extravagant CG.

AI, if anything, should be used to "pre-vis" the script in a way more advanced form than storyboards, which should help spot plot holes, unnecessary scenes, and allow for 'pre-editing' to streamline the filming process.

Though I can also imagine films using The Volume that have entire "on the fly" AI rendered 'landscapes' and all the actors are in mo-cap suits to be palette swapped at will (though I'm not actually sure if The Volume, with its lighting possibilities and 'in camera' effects abilities, is really compatible with mo-cap actors that get completely digitally replaced).

 

[VulcanRaven]

 

[kunonabi]

And not too long ago everybody had JP as the winner of the summer. It's amazing what actual good WoM can do for Superman...

 

[jason10mm]

And not too long ago everybody had JP as the winner of the summer. It's amazing what actual good WoM can do for Superman...

Hard to argue with 766 mill worldwide though, though domestic probably has a better return to the studio. Doubt Universal is seeing much of that 75mill from China, for example.

 

[calico]

If the best the flagship can do is barely break even, what's the point of the rest of it? DCU is DOA.

 

[VulcanRaven]

If the best the flagship can do is barely break even, what's the point of the rest of it? DCU is DOA.

Its estimated that this will do 640M-680M. Man of Steel did 670M and the cinematic universe continued for a long time.

 

[Yerd]

I saw this today. Not sure I'm enamored with it as some are. It was ok. I missed the first bit of the movie because my work day went long and I wasn't going to wait for another showing. I showed up when the mechano girl was looking in Antarctica or Icelandia, wherever superman's house is, was sinking.

Did I miss anything important before that? Not even sure how much of it I missed.

I intended to do a supes/F4 double but I couldn't keep awake. F4 another day.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Still tracking lower than Man of Steel at the box office? I'm sure WB is thrilled at that performance

 

[VulcanRaven]

Still tracking lower than Man of Steel at the box office? I'm sure WB is thrilled at that performance

I think it would be dumb for WB to expect lot more than MoS. If the movie makes like 640-650M then its very close to it. I wouldn't really consider that a big win for MoS if they are very close.

 

[Klosshufvud]

I think it would be dumb for WB to expect lot more than MoS. If the movie makes like 640-650M then its very close to it. I wouldn't really consider that a big win for MoS if they are very close.

Why shouldn't they expect more? The advertising campaign was insane*, the internal expectations were high** and they hired Marvel's top guy for 15m dollars for the job. A huge sum for any director. According to Hollywood Reporter this movie had also way higher budget than claimed in PR***.
Nobody is saying this a win for MoS - just the irony that a movie that many online fanboys deemed a flop in 2013 still seems to have garnered substantially more interest than the much-hyped 2025 reboot. And I will remind you that comic book movies back then were not guaranteed hits either, Green Lantern had just released prior to that to poor reception, same with The Wolverine. I think certain haters are caught in a very awkward spot now, having to back track on years of claiming certain Snyder films were bona fide BO flops better managed under any other director. Too many rocks thrown in glass houses. Seemingly those movies appealed to an audience that didn't bother to show up this time. WB should think about why that is.

*https://deadline.com/2025/02/superman-david-zaslav-josh-goldstine-james-gunn-dc-1236300075/

**https://variety.com/2025/film/news/warner-bros-fired-marketing-boss-risky-film-slate-1236275780/

***https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...-world-superman-box-office-summer-1236255949/

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Why shouldn't they expect more? The advertising campaign was insane*, the internal expectations were high** and they hired Marvel's top guy for 15m dollars for the job. A huge sum for any director. According to Hollywood Reporter this movie had also way higher budget than claimed in PR***.
Nobody is saying this a win for MoS - just the irony that a movie that many online fanboys deemed a flop in 2013 still seems to have garnered substantially more interest than the much-hyped 2025 reboot. And I will remind you that comic book movies back then were not guaranteed hits either, Green Lantern had just released prior to that to poor reception, same with The Wolverine. I think certain haters are caught in a very awkward spot now, having to back track on years of claiming certain Snyder films were bona fide BO flops better managed under any other director. Too many rocks thrown in glass houses. Seemingly those movies appealed to an audience that didn't bother to show up this time. WB should think about why that is.

*https://deadline.com/2025/02/superman-david-zaslav-josh-goldstine-james-gunn-dc-1236300075/

**https://variety.com/2025/film/news/warner-bros-fired-marketing-boss-risky-film-slate-1236275780/

***https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...-world-superman-box-office-summer-1236255949/

From the Hollywood Reporter article:

Last year, documents filed by the Superman production team with the Ohio government seeking incentives listed the gross budget of the highly anticipated July film as $363.8 million. When that number was reported, director James Gunn — who also runs DC Studios — lambasted the article. "How in the world do they think they know what our budget is?" he wrote on social media. In recent days, DC suggested the budget is a net $225 million after incentives and tax breaks.

Yet one longtime financier says the $363 million figure isn't incorrect. And sources say DC and its parent could spend as much as $200 million on the global marketing campaign, compared with the usual $150 million for an all-audience summer tentpole. It wouldn't be a surprise, since Superman kicks off the Gunn era and needs to work at the box office. Either way, between the production budget and marketing, it's certain to land in the $400 million club.

According to a veteran studio source, Superman, which opens July 11 in North America, is exploding on social media, with the first full trailer raking in 250 million-plus views, the most in Warners/DC history. Based on such metrics, a domestic debt of $175 million or thereabouts is within the realm of possibility; it even has a shot at finishing with $1 billion-plus globally. "There's no way to defend these budgets, because when you get into the $700 million to $900 million break-even point in regards to box office and ancillary revenue, it doesn't make any sense," says a veteran financier.

The Variety article also mentions that Warner Bros. was expecting a $1B+ gross for Superman. If it finishes with ~$600M globally, that will fall far short of expectations. The fact that it's tracking behind Man of Steel is particularly alarming since the whole point of rebooting the DCEU was to start over without Zack Snyder. If the new DCU can't even match what Snyder did, what's even the fucking point of the whole exercise?

Also for like the 48th time in the past century, Warner Bros. is again going through a corporate split after a failed merger/acquisition. Once the company was simply Time Warner, itself the product of the merger between Time Inc. and Warner Bros. Then they got acquired by America Online in a legendary bust of a merger, becoming AOL Time Warner for a period. The parent company AOL would go bankrupt and Time Warner would be cut loose, only to be acquired by AT&T. AT&T had no fucking idea what to do with them either, and eventually they were spun off and merged with Discovery Inc., to create Warner Bros. Discovery. This merger also proved to be a failure, with massive multi-billion dollar losses and a stock price that instantly went straight into the toilet. Now once again this merged company will dissolve, to become Warner Bros. and Discovery Inc.

And this is the corporate backdrop for the relatively disappointing performance of Superman lol

 

[VulcanRaven]

Why shouldn't they expect more? The advertising campaign was insane*, the internal expectations were high** and they hired Marvel's top guy for 15m dollars for the job. A huge sum for any director. According to Hollywood Reporter this movie had also way higher budget than claimed in PR***.
Nobody is saying this a win for MoS - just the irony that a movie that many online fanboys deemed a flop in 2013 still seems to have garnered substantially more interest than the much-hyped 2025 reboot. And I will remind you that comic book movies back then were not guaranteed hits either, Green Lantern had just released prior to that to poor reception, same with The Wolverine. I think certain haters are caught in a very awkward spot now, having to back track on years of claiming certain Snyder films were bona fide BO flops better managed under any other director. Too many rocks thrown in glass houses. Seemingly those movies appealed to an audience that didn't bother to show up this time. WB should think about why that is.

*https://deadline.com/2025/02/superman-david-zaslav-josh-goldstine-james-gunn-dc-1236300075/

**https://variety.com/2025/film/news/warner-bros-fired-marketing-boss-risky-film-slate-1236275780/

***https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/m...-world-superman-box-office-summer-1236255949/

I just feel like both MoS and Superman Returns showed how popular the character is in the end. The performance of this makes that even more clear. Its very risky to expect more. Only time Superman has done better is with Batman.

I hope WB is ok with the results. Especially how its doing domestically. The biggest risk is Supergirl coming next year. They should have had DCU Batman movie ready to go soon after Superman. That is still nowhere to be seen.

 

[calico]

Man of Steel did 670M and the cinematic universe continued for a long time.

Adjusted for inflation it's more like ~900m now.

I think the determination to persevere with DCEU was largely due to the success Marvel was enjoying, ie. 'if they can do it then we can too'. The market was proven and it was surely just a matter of getting it right for DC. There was some logic to that. Those days are long gone. Idk why anyone would be looking at how these movies are doing now and feeling bullish about a connected comic universe of movies.

The big hitters (Batman, Spider-Man, Superman) standalone movies could still do fine every so often. The B-Z listers seem like almost guaranteed flops unless they can get budgets way down. There are a few additional nostalgia options which could still work for Marvel.

 

[VulcanRaven]

Adjusted for inflation it's more like ~900m now.

I think the determination to persevere with DCEU was largely due to the success Marvel was enjoying, ie. 'if they can do it then we can too'. The market was proven and it was surely just a matter of getting it right for DC. There was some logic to that. Those days are long gone. Idk why anyone would be looking at how these movies are doing now and feeling bullish about a connected comic universe of movies.

The big hitters (Batman, Spider-Man, Superman) standalone movies could still do fine every so often. The B-Z listers seem like almost guaranteed flops unless they can get budgets way down. There are a few additional nostalgia options which could still work for Marvel.

If we adjust to inflation then the budget of MoS was over 500M so it doesn't make that much more money to WB.

 

[Klosshufvud]

From the Hollywood Reporter article:



The Variety article also mentions that Warner Bros. was expecting a $1B+ gross for Superman. If it finishes with ~$600M globally, that will fall far short of expectations. The fact that it's tracking behind Man of Steel is particularly alarming since the whole point of rebooting the DCEU was to start over without Zack Snyder. If the new DCU can't even match what Snyder did, what's even the fucking point of the whole exercise?

Yes that's the irony of it all. All this effort of crashing the entire DCEU, of announcing a Gunn DCU prematurely while other DC movies were still going up to theatres, being part of the cause of them flopping, years of fanboys pinning all the failures of DC on Snyder - all for it to culminate in this wet fart. I hope online fanboys and WB execs take a look at themselves for once, but I doubt that will happen. It's easier to blame all that's wrong with DC on a singular guy who by all metrics punched way above his weight given Superman's otherwise muted appeal.

If we adjust to inflation then the budget of MoS was over 500M so it doesn't make that much more money to WB.

According to that Hollywood Reporter article, S2025 budget wasn't far off from that either. Also MoS didn't carry the weight of an entire film universe either, and kept the movie focused solely on Superman.

 

[Fake]

Imagine wanting 1B for a Superman movie even with inflation. They like, wasted a tons of money advertising this movie.

Still tracking lower than Man of Steel at the box office? I'm sure WB is thrilled at that performance

There are some folks over that stupid Twitter happy that this beat Aquaman, I mean Aquaman is not even a popular superhero from DC. The actor of Aquaman did a heavy lift in his movie to be honest, Aquaman is very unpopular in comparison with even Green Lantern.

 

[Madflavor]

The Variety article also mentions that Warner Bros. was expecting a $1B+ gross for Superman. If it finishes with ~$600M globally, that will fall far short of expectations. The fact that it's tracking behind Man of Steel is particularly alarming since the whole point of rebooting the DCEU was to start over without Zack Snyder. If the new DCU can't even match what Snyder did, what's even the fucking point of the whole exercise?

No it doesn't:

"All of this ups the already sky-high stakes for "Superman," which relaunches the DC Universe under the direction of Gunn and Peter Safran. The film is the studio's best hope at fielding a billion-dollar blockbuster in 2025, but even the Man of Steel isn't impervious to box office Kryptonite. The superhero adventure is arriving at bust times for the once-impenetrable genre."

That's not Warner Bros saying they expected $1b, nor is it Variety claiming they were expecting $1b. There are only two CBMs that crossed $1b in the past 5 years. Spiderman: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine. Even Batman didn't cross $800m. Why would Warner Bros expect Superman to cross $1b? It's nonsense.

I hope WB is ok with the results. Especially how its doing domestically. The biggest risk is Supergirl coming next year. They should have had DCU Batman movie ready to go soon after Superman. That is still nowhere to be seen.

They're probably concerned about the International numbers, especially since it's an industry wide issue, but overall they're fine with the film's performance. With the exception of The Batman, it's the highest grossing DC flm by a large margin, since Joker in 2019. That's 10 DC films between Joker and Superman. Word of mouth and legs have been very good and overperformed, so they've cultivated an audience which will probably lead to a sequel that grosses more. It's also the highest grossing film Domestically of the July films, beating Jurassic World and F4. The DCU is off to a good start.

They're making a sequel to Superman. No matter what anyone else says on here, that's the one fact that truly reflects how Warner Bros feels about Superman.

 

[calico]

With the exception of The Batman, it's the highest grossing DC flm by a large margin, since Joker in 2019. That's 10 DC films between Joker and Superman.

How many of those flopped or barely broke even, and why would they expect it to be any different now if all the Superman DCU reboot flagship movie can do is barely break even?

A Superman sequel could break even and Batman always has a shot regardless of any connected universe. It's the Supercousin and Obscuroman trash they have pencilled in they ought to be seriously reconsidering after Superman's lacklustre performance. The 2010s market just doesn't exist anymore, not matter how much they wish it did.

 

[Fake]

Batman is more popular outside of the USA than Superman.

 

[jason10mm]

How many of those flopped or barely broke even, and why would they expect it to be any different now if all the Superman DCU reboot flagship movie can do is barely break even?

A Superman sequel could break even and Batman always has a shot regardless of any connected universe. It's the Supercousin and Obscuroman trash they have pencilled in they ought to be seriously reconsidering after Superman's lacklustre performance. The 2010s market just doesn't exist anymore, not matter how much they wish it did.

Yeah, this is where I fall as well. Supergirl is gonna be a HUGE gamble. Clayface...unless its BATMAN (starring Clayface) I'm not sure how that's gonna do either. Obviously a really stellar trailer and a good marketing push might change things, but just "Comic book movie #3 of this year!" ain't gonna cut it.

I can EASILY see Doomsday slip to after Spidey just to try to get more positive good will going in, calling it now. Maybe they will just plus up all the old X-men characters, especially Wolverine, and hope that carries the film through opening weekend.

 

[IDKFA]

Why would Warner Bros expect Superman to cross $1b? It's nonsense.



They're probably concerned about the International numbers, especially since it's an industry wide issue, but overall they're fine with the film's performance. With the exception of The Batman, it's the highest grossing DC flm by a large margin,

Aquaman made over 1bn at the global box office.

I'm pretty sure worldwide, Superman is more popular than Aquaman.

Man of Steel almost reached the 1bn mark at the global box office as well.

With the above in mind, I wouldn't be shocked if WB expected this new Superman to at least come close to the 1bn mark.

 

[VulcanRaven]

Aquaman made over 1bn at the global box office.

I'm pretty sure worldwide, Superman is more popular than Aquaman.

Man of Steel almost reached the 1bn mark at the global box office as well.

With the above in mind, I wouldn't be shocked if WB expected this new Superman to at least come close to the 1bn mark.

MoS did 670m globally.

 

[Madflavor]

Aquaman made over 1bn at the global box office.

I'm pretty sure worldwide, Superman is more popular than Aquaman.

Man of Steel almost reached the 1bn mark at the global box office as well.

With the above in mind, I wouldn't be shocked if WB expected this new Superman to at least come close to the 1bn mark.

It didn't come close to $1 billion.

Aquaman came out during the peak era for CBMs, when overseas loved the genre. It made almost $300m in China alone. So this isn't a good comparison. WB would be completely out of touch if they thought Superman would cross $1 billion.

How many of those flopped or barely broke even, and why would they expect it to be any different now if all the Superman DCU reboot flagship movie can do is barely break even?

A Superman sequel could break even and Batman always has a shot regardless of any connected universe. It's the Supercousin and Obscuroman trash they have pencilled in they ought to be seriously reconsidering after Superman's lacklustre performance. The 2010s market just doesn't exist anymore, not matter how much they wish it did.

Birds of Prey - $205m
WW84 - $169m
The Suicide Squad - $168m
Black Adam - $393m
Shazam Fury of the Gods - $134m
The Flash - $271m
Blue Beetle - $130m
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - $434m
Joker: Folie a Deux - $206m

Superman has done $550m so far. It will pass the break even point, and there's no sense arguing about Marketing because nobody but WB knows how much they spent on Marketing, and how much of that has been recouped already from things like partnership deals and cross promotion. They will also continue to profit off of the film from VOD and Merchandise.

The DCU is coming from a very low point, in a post Covid era, when the entire Superhero genre is struggling. So yes, for Superman to land somewhere in the low to mid $600m, where even the MCU hasn't been able to achieve that with almost all their films lately, they're probably satisfied. But they have to figure out the International market. As bad as the opening weekend was Overseas, the legs for Superman internationally ended up being pretty good in many places, which does indicate some good word of mouth. Remember films like Batman Begins and Spiderman Into The Spiderverse weren't smash hits at the BO. But their sequels did banger numbers.

My point is it's very premature to start calling the DCU dead on arrival, or off to a bad start. They have to restore a lot of people's faith in a very damaged brand. The Opening Weekend for Superman suggested the film was going to land in the $500m range. But it's legs overperformed and will get it to cross $600m. That is very good to have that kind of positive word of mouth.

 

[IDKFA]

MoS did 670m globally.

It didn't come close to $1 billion.

Aquaman came out during the peak era for CBMs, when overseas loved the genre. It made almost $300m in China alone. So this isn't a good comparison. WB would be completely out of touch if they thought Superman would cross $1 billion.



Birds of Prey - $205m
WW84 - $169m
The Suicide Squad - $168m
Black Adam - $393m
Shazam Fury of the Gods - $134m
The Flash - $271m
Blue Beetle - $130m
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom - $434m
Joker: Folie a Deux - $206m

Superman has done $550m so far. It will pass the break even point, and there's no sense arguing about Marketing because nobody but WB knows how much they spent on Marketing, and how much of that has been recouped already from things like partnership deals and cross promotion. They will also continue to profit off of the film from VOD and Merchandise.

The DCU is coming from a very low point, in a post Covid era, when the entire Superhero genre is struggling. So yes, for Superman to land somewhere in the low to mid $600m, where even the MCU hasn't been able to achieve that with almost all their films lately, they're probably satisfied. But they have to figure out the International market. As bad as the opening weekend was Overseas, the legs for Superman internationally ended up being pretty good in many places, which does indicate some good word of mouth. Remember films like Batman Begins and Spiderman Into The Spiderverse weren't smash hits at the BO. But their sequels did banger numbers.

My point is it's very premature to start calling the DCU dead on arrival, or off to a bad start. They have to restore a lot of people's faith in a very damaged brand. The Opening Weekend for Superman suggested the film was going to land in the $500m range. But it's legs overperformed and will get it to cross $600m. That is very good to have that kind of positive word of mouth.

I stand corrected on MoS. I thought it made more.

Maybe the global audience just isn't into Superman. I thought it was great and I think it'll perform enough to get a sequel.

Or maybe global audiences are just getting sick of Superhero films. I really liked the new F4 and thought it was the best MCU film in a long time, but it's currently struggling at the box office.

Regarding the other planned films in this DC reboot, I'm not too sure they're going to perform. I can't see Clayface or Supergirl or The Authority taking the box office by storm. But who knows? Nobody knew Guardians of the Galaxy before that film dropped in 2014, and that was a huge success.

Maybe it's time to drop Superhero movies and move onto something else. Maybe Disney should start combining their IPs. For example, a Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, Fox combined universe. Have Luke Skywalker, Woody, Iron Man, and Micky Mouse team up against Thanos and Darth Vader. No plot and the bare minimum dialogue. Just have all these characters fight on screen for 2 hours. That's probably where we're heading anyway.

Or maybe the upcoming skibidi toilet film will be a huge success and we'll get a trend of brainrot movies.

 

[jason10mm]

Maybe it's time to drop Superhero movies and move onto something else. Maybe Disney should start combining their IPs. For example, a Pixar, Star Wars, Marvel, Disney, Fox combined universe. Have Luke Skywalker, Woody, Iron Man, and Micky Mouse team up against Thanos and Darth Vader. No plot and the bare minimum dialogue. Just have all these characters fight on screen for 2 hours. That's probably where we're heading anyway.

If Disney is looking for IP to recycle/reboot/revisit, here are my recommendations...

and FOR FUCKS SAKE

a kick ass action vampire flick that doesn't have a social 'message' or any of that

 

[IDKFA]

If Disney is looking for IP to recycle/reboot/revisit, here are my recommendations...

and FOR FUCKS SAKE

a kick ass action vampire flick that doesn't have a social 'message' or any of that

I agree with Blade, but the other two will not pull in the masses.

What other IP can they buy? Potentially they could own some of GameFreak and the Pokemon IP, or maybe Games Workshop and have the 40K license. Very few IPs are as big as Star Wars or Marvel.

After they've made cinematic universes out of those two, the only option is a Ultimate Disney mash up that throws all their IPs into a single film.

If I was Disney I'd go balls deep. A four hour epic mixing all their IPs into a trilogy of films. It would make billions upon billions. Who wouldn't want to see Woody and Yoda mix it up with Thanos and Peg Leg Pete?

 

[jason10mm]

I agree with Blade, but the other two will not pull in the masses.

Of course they COULD pull in 'the masses', if the films looked good and had good marketing. Black Cauldron, in particular, could be a nice trilogy of films covering the 5 books. The Black Hole, beyond the awesome visuals (and be nice if they kept the zero-gee), has a deep philosophical nature to it and we know a LOT more weird shit about black holes now for it to explore.

We need to get filmmakers that want to delve into universal human experiences, not trendy topical culture war bullshit. Give them enough money to do good work but enough limitations that creativity and necessity come together. CGI has made filmmakers very lazy, IMHO.

 

[Hugare]

I was enjoying myself for the most part up until the end of Act 2. I was super worried when Lex was giving Ultraman fight commands remote. And then they doubled down with the final fight. Holy crap.

Act 3 really shits the bed. I was ready to get up and go by that point but I held out hope Gunn would stick the landing. Ultimately nothing of real substance came together. It was just spectacle and nothing else. 3 minutes screen time with the Kent's packed more emotional stakes than all the scenes between Lois and Superman which is odd seeing how Gunn got me to care about 5 people in Guardians I never knew much about in one movie but here I didn't feel much for anybody.

Its really disappointing seeing Fantastic 4 and Superman have so much right but just cant put them together into anything remarkable.

I give it 2 and a half Stars.

Even better: he made me care about the whole crew in Suicide Squad.

I think Suicide Squad is still Gunn's best DC movie, by far.

He is much better when working with a more funny/sarcastic tone. Superman is too much of a "good guy" character and doesnt fit his tone.

 

[Klosshufvud]

Even better: he made me care about the whole crew in Suicide Squad.

I think Suicide Squad is still Gunn's best DC movie, by far.

He is much better when working with a more funny/sarcastic tone. Superman is too much of a "good guy" character and doesnt fit his tone.

I think the word you might be looking for is sincerity. Gunn can't be sincere. In GoTG and TSS alike, it's easy to see how much he struggles with this. It's either complete melodrama, complete slap stick humor or flat out gore porn. Gunn has zero characteristics of sincerity or nuance. Honestly don't mind him when the adapted source fits his style but Superman ain't it.

 

[Madflavor]

James Gunn to Direct Next Movie in the ‘Super-Family’ at DC Studios After ‘Superman’ Success

James Gunn will write and direct the "next movie in the Super-Family" after the success of "Superman" this summer.

variety.com

Gunn had previously said in various interviews during his "Superman" press tour that he was writing a new movie featuring David Corenswet's Superman in it, although he always remained coy on whether it was a standalone "Superman" sequel or something else. Zaslav provided no clarity there, opting to say "next movie in the Super-Family," but it's news that Gunn will direct the movie in addition to writing the screenplay. He served the same dual role on "Superman."

That's no matter to Zaslav, who is loudly congratulating the Man of Steel for charting a new path forward. "The DC vision is clear, the momentum is real," he said after "Superman" landed in theaters. "I couldn't be more excited for what's ahead."

 

[jason10mm]

James Gunn to Direct Next Movie in the ‘Super-Family’ at DC Studios After ‘Superman’ Success

James Gunn will write and direct the "next movie in the Super-Family" after the success of "Superman" this summer.

variety.com

They mean the next movie AFTER Supergirl, right? I don't see how Gunn has the time or juice to write and direct a superman film while giving proper attention to all the other DC stuff but I guess that's what cocaine is for Just get it out in 2 years while these actors are hot.

 

[VulcanRaven]

James Gunn to Direct Next Movie in the ‘Super-Family’ at DC Studios After ‘Superman’ Success

James Gunn will write and direct the "next movie in the Super-Family" after the success of "Superman" this summer.

variety.com

I hope they don't introduce too many new heroes. Superman, Supergirl and Krypto are enough.

 

[MrTroubleMaker]

I hope they don't introduce too many new heroes. Superman, Supergirl and Krypto are enough.

I hope so too, but you know what they will do ....