Superman arrived on HBO Max on Friday, September 19, and James Gunn's reboot has proven to be a big hit for the streaming service so far.
According to the trades (ie, Warner Bros. Discovery), the first ever DCU movie surpassed 13 million views in its first 10 days on HBO Max, marking the platform’s biggest feature launch since 2023's Barbie. Apparently, "other titles related to the Superman character also saw a spike in viewership after the movie began streaming."
Those titles are said to include Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (+670%), Superman: The Movie +(155%), Superman Returns (+120%), and Man of Steel (+40%).
Superman finished its theatrical run (somewhat abruptly) after taking in $615 million at the worldwide box office, making it the year’s highest-grossing comic book movie. While some feel that a film featuring the iconic DC Comics hero's long-awaited return to the big screen really should have performed a little better, the reboot still managed to surpass all three Marvel Studios releases, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts*.
A recent report claimed that the film made a profit of $125 million for Warner Bros./DC Studios, but analysts believe that the movie may have run up a budget of over $330 million after P&A (all marketing, advertising, publicity, promotion and releasing costs) is factored in.
At the end of the day, it doesn't really matter how much of a profit Superman did or didn't make. The studio was clearly happy enough with its box office performance, as we recently learned that Man of Tomorrow will hit theaters on July 9, 2027. Production is expected to get underway next summer.
Superman stars David Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho (we wouldn't be at all surprised if they also return for Man of Tomorrow).
The cast also features Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell as "Ma" and "Pa" Kent, and Milly Alcock's Supergirl makes her DCU 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."