Though some believe the movie really should be doing better in all markets, James Gunn's Superman has been performing pretty well at the domestic box office. Internationally, not so much.
The DCU reboot still managed to top the global box office once again during its second weekend in theaters with $102.45 million ($57.3 million domestic and $45.2 million international), and now sits at a worldwide total of $406.8 million. Even so, when $236 million has come from North America and $171 million from the rest of the world, it's clear that audiences overseas are not embracing the movie in quite the same way.
While speaking to Rolling Stone, Gunn weighed-in on the domestic/international box office disparity, and he believes a number of factors are to blame.
"We’re definitely performing better domestically than we are internationally, but internationally is also rising and having really good weekday numbers in the same way we are. So obviously the word of mouth is very positive both here and everywhere else. Which is the thing that we needed to do the most. At the same time, there are certain countries in which it’s really performing well. Brazil and the U.K."
"Superman is not a known commodity in some places," he went on. "He is not a big known superhero in some places like Batman is. That affects things. And it also affects things that we have a certain amount of anti-American sentiment around the world right now. It isn’t really helping us. So I think it’s just a matter of letting something grow. But again, for us, everything’s been a total win. Having the movie come out and be something that has been embraced by people everywhere — this is just the seed of the tree that Peter and I have been watering for the past three years. So to be able to have it start off so positively has been incredibly overwhelming."
Though some might accuse Gunn of making excuses here, he's not wrong. By and large, Superman has always been more popular in North America than the rest of the world, and the character does tend to be viewed as a symbol of the United States by some.
Sluggish overseas numbers aside, analysts believe Superman should finish its theatrical run at around the $640M-$700M mark.
Superman stars David Corenswet as Clark Kent/the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho.
The cast also Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl has been confirmed to make her debut ahead of her own Woman of Tomorrow movie.
"And that’s a wrap," Gunn posted last year when filming concluded. "God bless our cast and crew whose commitment, creativity, and hard work have brought this project to life. I set out to make a movie about a good man in a world that isn’t always so much. And the goodness and kindness and love I’ve encountered on a daily basis on the set has inspired me and thrust me forward when I felt too spent to move on my own.
Thank you all from the bottom of my heart. It has been an honor. The destination has been Superman, but the journey has been the toil and the laughter and the emotions and ideas and magic we’ve shared together on set - and for that I am forever grateful."
You can check out a synopsis for the movie below.
"In his signature style, James Gunn takes on the original superhero in the newly imagined DC universe with a singular blend of epic action, humor and heart, delivering a Superman who’s driven by compassion and an inherent belief in the goodness of humankind."