Superman Had an Even Bigger Opening Weekend at the Box Office Than We Thought

Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ Superman continues to beat box office expectations. The first film in the new DC Universe is off to a heroic start, as Deadline reports Superman actually beat the initial estimates of $122 million with actuals coming in at a reported $125 million. Many estimates had the movie coming in lower on Sunday, but the superhero movie managed to pull in a strong $30.8 million Sunday. A solid drop of only 18% from the previous day. More impressive, however, is that the flick is expected to have an impressive second weekend, too, with experts predicting a $62.5 million second weekend.

The movie won’t have much competition next week, with the biggest releases this week being a new Smurfs movie, Eddington, and the reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer. In fact, the film’s only actual competitor this month will be Marvel Studios’ Fantastic Four, which will hit theaters on July 25th. That film is already tracking for a big opening, but until Marvel’s first family flies to the big screen, Superman should continue to dominate at the box office. It’s a much-needed win for DC Studios, as it tries to rebuild the DC Universe on the big screen following the Snyder-verse.

DC Studios’ co-head James Gunn wrote and directed the new Superman film, and Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav recently celebrated Gunn’s vision for the film. The CEO noted how happy he was to see Gunn’s vision come to life, and to see what Gunn and Safran have planned out for the next ten years of the DC Universe.

“This weekend, we watched Superman soar as James Gunn’s passion and vision came to life on the big screen. Superman is just the first step,” Zaslav said in a statement to the press.

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Despite Superman‘s continued box office success, a direct sequel isn’t guaranteed. In fact, Gunn recently suggested Superman may appear in other films, rather than a Superman 2. Gunn and Safran have the next ten years of the DC Universe mapped out already, so it’s more than likely that they know when and where David Corenswet will next appear as the Man of Steel but simply are not ready to announce what project that’ll be. After all, the DC Universe has only a handful of confirmed projects in the pipeline. Gunn seems to be moving based on what’s best for the story being told, rather than producing a project simply because it is what is expected.

Superman stars Corenswet as the Man of Steel, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner, Isabela Merced as Hawkgirl, and Skyler Gisondo as Jimmy Olsen.

Either way, fans should be expected to see what Gunn and Safran have in store for Superman when he does eventually return to the big screen. For now, fans can watch Superman exclusively in theaters. Up next for the DC Universe is Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which wrapped production last month, with both HBO Max’s Lanterns and the big screen Clayface movie expected to follow.