Netflix CEO Admits James Gunn’s Superman Reboot Underperformed

Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos has openly acknowledged that James Gunn’s Superman did not perform as expected, and he did it during a high-profile Senate hearing.

The comments came during a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing focused on Netflix and the proposed Warner Bros. Discovery deal. While answering questions about theatrical releases and streaming practices, Sarandos unexpectedly brought up Superman, the DC reboot directed by James Gunn.

The source of the moment is public record. The exchange happened during the Senate hearing and is available on YouTube, around the 1 hour, 16 minutes, and 17 seconds mark.

Superman 2025 underperformed… this is coming from Ted Sarandos himself 🤷‍♂️ pic.twitter.com/cHiKvji36S

— Daniel Dami Biu (@damiebi10) February 3, 2026

Senator Cory Booker questioned Sarandos about whether Netflix-supported films would follow the industry-standard 45-day exclusive theatrical window before moving to streaming or video-on-demand. Booker asked directly if Netflix would commit to a fully exclusive 45-day run in theaters.

Sarandos responded clearly at first, saying, “Fully exclusive to theaters, yes.”

However, when Booker followed up and asked whether that window is always strictly followed, Sarandos gave a more revealing answer. While explaining how the rule works in practice, he pointed to Superman as an example of a movie that did not make it the full distance.

Sarandos said, “It is the industry standard for self-enforcement. However, routinely movies that underperform, the window moves a little bit… and Superman was a little shorter window, and Sinners, a little longer window, but they still could refer to it as a 45-day window.”

With that statement, Sarandos confirmed what many industry watchers had already suspected. Superman underperformed enough that Warner Bros. shortened its theatrical run and pushed it to video-on-demand early.

The movie hit VOD just 35 days after its theatrical release, instead of the full 45 days. That early move raised questions, especially considering the scale of the project. Superman reportedly had a budget north of $350 million and was meant to launch James Gunn’s new DC Universe.

The fact that Sarandos singled out Superman while comparing it to another film suggests the studio saw a meaningful gap between expectations and results. While Sarandos framed the decision as standard industry behavior, his comments mark the first time a top executive publicly tied Superman’s shorter theatrical window to underperformance.

Superman premiered at the TCL Chinese Theater on July 7, and opened in U.S. theaters on July 11 through Warner Bros. Pictures. It became the first film in the DCU’s Chapter One, titled Gods and Monsters. The movie went on to gross $617 million worldwide, ranking as the tenth highest-grossing film of 2025.

Critical reception was mostly positive. Reviewers described the film as fun, colorful, and sincere, though some felt it tried to juggle too many ideas. Performances by David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, and Nicholas Hoult were widely praised.

Despite the box office numbers and reviews, the shortened theatrical window tells a different story behind the scenes. The film was supposed to be the foundation of Gunn’s larger DC reboot, but the plan has since been reframed as a more limited “Superman Family Saga” as Warner Bros. Discovery moves forward with a potential sale.

A sequel titled Man of Tomorrow is still scheduled for 2027, and a spin-off TV series centered on supporting characters, including Skyler Gisondo’s Jimmy Olsen, is currently in development for HBO Max. Whether future DC projects will face the same scrutiny remains to be seen, but Sarandos’ comments made one thing clear. Even Superman is not immune when expectations are not met.

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