The World Today
Superman The first superhero picture was set to gross $600 million at the global box office in a morale boost for James Gunn and Peter Safran 's Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios . Gunn also directed the film.
The big-budget sinew achieved the feat Friday morning, after finishing Thursday with $599.6 million in worldwide ticket sales, including $343.6 million domestically and $256 million overseas. This weekend, F1: The Movie , an Apple Original film released in partnership with Warners, will also surpass the $600 million mark at the worldwide box office. Formula 1's performance has been all the more surprising, considering that its execution has often struggled, while superhero movies are much more considered a fair bet, or were. Easily ranking as the biggest box office film of the year so far, Superman hasn't been able to fully escape the kryptonite, as superhero fatigue continues to make audiences more demanding.
Superman , which provides a hefty net budget of at least $225 million before marketing, is the inaugural release for Safran and Gunn as they revitalize the DC brand at the behest of Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav after the DC Extended Universe faltered with a string of recent misfires, including recent misfires The Flash , Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom , Beetle and Shazam! Fury of the Gods .
Gunn’s film was embraced by critics and audiences alike, and it outperformed rival Marvel Studios, which saw its three 2025 titles – Fantastic Four: First Look , Ray* , and Captain America: Brave New World – struggle. The Fantastic Four reboot, which opened two weeks after Superman earned $472.7 million so far, suffered a sharp decline, despite receiving the same star power and critical scores as Superman , if not better. The Captain America reboot grossed $415 million worldwide, while early summer’s Ray * sat at $382.4 million.
DC knows all about being the underdog. Superman is the first DC release to hit the $600 million milestone since The Batman in 2022. That pic grossed $772.5 million worldwide, unadjusted for inflation. The Matt Reeves film wasn't part of the DCEU. Same for Todd Phillips' The Joker , which earned $1.078 billion globally in 2019.
In terms of a DCEU title, the last film to cross $600 million globally was Aquaman . (Starring Jason Momoa, it grossed $1.148 billion worldwide.)
Superman became the first superhero film to cross $100 million in its North American opening since Marvel Studios and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool & Wolverine launched to $211 million in summer 2024, on track to raise a record $1.338 billion worldwide. And at the time, it was only the third 2025 film so far to open past $100 million. A Minecraft film opened to $162.8 million, and Lilo & Stitch opened with $146 million. Since then, Fantastic Four also debuted north of $100 million in the domestic market.
All told, Superman takes the sixth position on the list of the year's highest-grossing films worldwide behind DreamWorks Animation's live-action How to Train Your Dragon (US$626.1 million), Universal's J.J. Urosic's Worldwide Revival (US$829.9 million), Warners' A Minecraft Movie (US$955.1 million), Disney's live-action Lilo & Stitch ($1.03 billion) and Chinese blockbuster N.E. Zha II ($1.89 billion).
In North America, Superman has now surpassed each of the last two films featuring the iconic hero, unadjusted for inflation. In 2016, Zack Snyder's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice grossed US$330.4 million in North America, preceded by US$219 million domestically for Superman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2013.
Global numbers are another issue due to the foreign box office, where superhero fatigue is in full bloom, among other challenges. Dawn of Justice grossed $544 million internationally for a global total of $874.4 million, while Steel reached $379.1 million overseas for a worldwide tally of $668 million. Chances are, Gunn not be able to a Steel .
Gunn's film stars David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. Rounding out the cast are Skyler Girling as Jimmy Olsen, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Anthony Carrigan as Metamorpho, and Edi Gathegi as Mister Mystery.
