‘Superman’ Breaks Record with Incredible Global Opening, Biggest Ever for Solo Superman Film

The new Superman movie from Warner Bros. and DC Studios had a strong opening weekend at the global box office, bringing in $217 million. That includes $122 million in the U.S. alone. While it’s not the studio’s biggest release this year, it’s still a solid start for the rebooted DC universe.

According to TheWrap, the film’s U.S. numbers landed right in the middle of what analysts expected, which was anywhere between $115 and $135 million. For comparison, James Gunn’s last film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, made $118 million in its opening weekend, while The Batman opened with $133 million.

For comparison, Man of Steel (2013) opened to $116 million domestically. Gunn’s Superman however did not manage to dethrone Batman v Superman (2016), which opened to $166 million in domestic market.

Superman is getting a pretty warm reception from fans and critics. It has an 82% critic score and a 94% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. PostTrak gave it an 86% positive score, and CinemaScore graded it an A-, which is the same grade that Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel got back in 2013. That movie had a slightly stronger opening, though, with $128 million.

Thanks to those solid reviews, the movie is expected to continue doing well, even with Marvel’s The Fantastic 4: First Steps hitting theaters in two weeks. That film is already building hype online, and some superhero fans may even watch both. There’s a chance Superman could benefit from that excitement and draw some people back for a second viewing.

One area where Superman didn’t fly quite as high was internationally. It brought in $95 million from 78 different countries, which is a bit underwhelming. Industry insiders believe that Jurassic World: Rebirth had something to do with it. That film made $68 million overseas and $40 million in the U.S. during its second weekend. It has now crossed $529 million worldwide.

Dinosaurs, it seems, are still a bigger draw than the Man of Steel in many parts of the world.

Still, Superman is expected to easily pass $300 million in the U.S., making it the third movie this year to hit that milestone.

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