Why Superman 2025 Box Office Numbers Could Struggle Moving Forward

Some fans are understandably worried about Superman 2025 box office numbers as there are several worrying indicators that the DCU reboot may struggle to reach its lofty goals. Thus far, the James Gunn-directed movie has been a notable success, especially when it comes to domestic sales. However, there are a few signs that the film may not have as easy a road as other Superman films in the past, like Man of Steel (2013) and Batman v Superman (2016). Here are some reasons why Superman 2025 may have some trouble meeting DC’s $700 million expectations for the first film in the brand’s new cinematic universe.

How much money has Superman 2025 made so far?

The box office numbers for Superman 2025 have the film earning $426 million so far, with $253 million coming in domestic US sales and $173 million coming in international sales.

These figures are based on Box Office Mojo up to July 24, which is roughly two weeks after the Superman 2025’s debut in the States. Crossing the $400 million mark is a feat that only a handful of movies have achieved this year, but the percentage of its sales that have come overseas is still worrying, as we have reported before. $173 million is only 40% of its overall numbers, which is much lower than expected. As a point of comparison, Man of Steel had 56.6% of its $670 million total come from the international box office; for Thunderbolts*, it was 50% of its $382 million total.

Delving into the international numbers, a part of the struggle comes directly from China’s low reception for the movie. As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, “Hollywood film can no longer count on China, where the government is making it difficult, if not impossible, for Western films to book screens so as to make room for local nationalist titles.” As much as Superman 2025, through its story and its marketing abroad, has tried to downplay the superhero being a symbol of “the American way,” this connection has made it difficult for the film to remain in Chinese theaters. And more broadly speaking, Gunn stated in an interview with Rolling Stone that the film’s success is being hindered overseas by “a certain amount of anti-American sentiment.”

In its opening week in China, the movie only made $6.6 million, and that momentum has slowed dramatically, with it only getting $8.5 million to date. Deadline writes that the Chinese market “has positively rejected this movie.” This is in direct contrast to Jurassic World: Rebirth, which released about two weeks before Superman 2025 and saw a strong opening in China of $25.7 million (that’s nearly four times as much as Superman’s opener). So far, the Universal Pictures film has had approximately 57% of its $656 million worldwide sales come from the international box office.

Meanwhile, the June 23 report from Box Office Theory shows how steep the competition is now that The Fantastic Four: First Steps is expected to dominate the box office throughout its opening weekend. Notably, the analytics site projects that Superman 2025 will drop by a massive 60% in sales for the week in the US market, cutting its domestic numbers down to $23.5 million (or in the range of $22.5 million to $26 million).

Some of this is due to the Marvel reboot having even stronger pre-sales than Superman and showing stronger favorability to male audiences under the age of 35. The other part is due to Fantastic Four 2025 taking over IMAX and other premium screens that Superman 2025 has held for the last two weeks. This “sizable drop-off,” though, is expected to turn by early August when both superhero films should be able to coexist with another, since the 2025 summer schedule is relatively sparse when it come to any viable competitors for the pair.