Box Office Report for the Week of July 13

It’s a SUPER weekend at the movies as James Gunn‘s Superman soars incredibly high, way further than the conservative industry projections had set the film’s barometer for success. The movie opened with an incredible $122 million tally during its opening weekend domestically, with a global gross of $217 million.

It’s a fantastic start for the newest iteration of the DC Universe, whose promised continuation essentially hinged on the commercial prospects of Superman. While Craig Gillespie‘s Supergirl had finished production, alongside the second season of Peacemaker and Lanterns on the television side, no other film or TV project had cameras rolling. It was all dependent on whether or not Superman could soar up, up, and away, and it more than did, not only showcasing viability for comic book entertainment in an era of flops, but finally putting a rest to the “Restore the Snyder Verse” crowd once and for all.

I’m a big lover of Snyder’s work, but even I recognized that all its stars (and filmmaker) have moved on from DC and had no desire to return after the filmmaker released his (amazing) Snyder Cut of Justice League. And while I wasn’t crazy with Gunn’s Superman as others, the film still proved the naysayers wrong and has at least ensured a future for what could’ve been David Zaslav‘s riskiest gamble yet.

If you remember, Zaslav had canceled Batgirl‘s release, which was one of his most controversial executive decisions when he took over Warner Bros. Discovery in 2022, and decided to overhaul DC, with a new team in place set to create a cinematic universe that would span for the next ten years, starting with Creature Commandos in 2024. It was not a sure bet, considering that all but one DC film since Shazam! Fury of the Gods flopped at the box office, but we can count on Gunn for shattering expectations and actively making people excited for superhero cinema again.

The film is not only the second highest-grossing opener for Warner Bros (after A Minecraft Movie), but the second-best opening for both James Gunn and a film featuring Superman, while also being the best opening weekend ever for a first Superman installment. These are all incredible milestones the film has surpassed in its first weekend, and will certainly enjoy momentum for another week before Marvel attempts to make its comeback after two massive commercial duds with The Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Will it soar as high as Superman or give it some healthy competition? Only time will give us that answer. Until then, keep going to the movies!

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Superman (Warner Bros/DC Studios): $122.0M – 4,135 theatres
2. Jurassic World Rebirth (Universal): $40.0M (-57%) – 4,324 theatres
3. F1 the Movie (Warner Bros/Apple TV+): $13.0M (-50%) – 3,412 theatres
4. How to Train Your Dragon (Universal): $7.8M (-31%) – 3,285 theatres
5. Elio (Disney): $3.9M (-33%) – 2,730 theatres
6. 28 Years Later (Sony): $2.72M (-40%) – 2,208 theatres
7. Lilo & Stitch (Disney): $2.7M (-32%) – 2,075 theatres
8. Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount): $1.4M (-47%) – 1,132 theatres
9. M3GAN 2.0 (Universal): $1.3M (-66%) – 1,658 theatres
10. Materialists (A24): $720.498 (-47%) – 589 theatres

Source: Comscore