Superman Is 2025’s Only Superhero Movie To Hit This Major Box Office Milestone

by

Despite the fact that comic book adaptations like this summer’s “Deadpool & Wolverine” can still make a billion dollars at the box office, the genre hasn’t been as popular as it used to be recently. This is evident in the lineup of superhero movies released this year. For instance, “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts*” are among the lowest-grossing films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” saw a significant decline in ticket sales after its strong opening. Even the highly anticipated “Superman”, slated for release in 2025, struggled to gain momentum at the international box office. However, despite these challenges, James Gunn’s reboot has managed to surpass certain milestones in theaters and recently achieved another significant success.

As reported by The Hollywood Reporter, Superman is currently the only superhero film this year to generate over $600 million globally at the box office. This achievement also marks the first time a DC Comics adaptation has reached that milestone since 2022’s The Batman, which grossed an impressive $772.3 million.

How Superman‘s Box Office Compares to 2025’s Other Superhero Movies

Due to favorable feedback and word-of-mouth, the film “Superman” outperformed expectations and made $125 million domestically during its debut weekend. In the following weeks, it performed exceptionally well, setting a new record as the highest-grossing solo “Superman” movie in the U.S. However, its performance overseas was not as impressive as hoped, preventing it from surpassing the earnings of “Man of Steel.” After official box office figures were released on August 21st, the total earnings for “Superman” amounted to $343.5 million in the U.S. and $256 million in foreign territories. This unusually lopsided income distribution was unusual for a superhero movie in the 2010s, as international box office receipts often propelled several films to earn over $1 billion.

Initially, “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” faced a similar predicament, earning more within the U.S. ($251.3 million) compared to abroad ($222.2 million). Despite its $473.5 million global earnings, making it the highest-grossing Marvel film of the year, it didn’t become the blockbuster hit that Marvel Studios and Disney likely anticipated. Interestingly, after “First Steps” surpassed its projected domestic opening weekend with a take of $117.6 million, it experienced a significant drop in attendance during its second week and struggled to keep pace with summer releases.

It appears that both “Captain America: Brave New World” and “Thunderbolts” struggled financially during their theater releases. Initial reports suggested that “Thunderbolts” needed to earn $425 million globally just to break even, but it ended up with $382.4 million instead. After a month in theaters, “Brave New World” was said to have insufficient worldwide gross to cover its production cost of approximately $180 million. Despite their box office performance, both movies saw success on various home media formats. The fourth Captain America film managed to make $415.1 million globally. Curiously, both titles experienced significant popularity in different home media formats.

Recently, it wasn’t uncommon for four movies to earn a staggering $600 million globally. However, in 2019, that changed as four comic book adaptations surpassed the $1 billion mark. The landscape has shifted significantly since then. Shorter movie theater windows may discourage casual viewers from going to the cinema immediately, and a film like Brave New World, with mixed reviews, can impact ticket sales. With Marvel Studios and DC Studios continuing their productions without pause, it will be intriguing to observe how they adapt to this new box office climate, aiming for their films to thrive under these altered conditions.

https://comicbook.com/movies/news/mcu-spider-man-brand-new-day-avengers-doomsday-secret-wars-box-office/embed/#

Read More

2025-08-23 17:10