James Gunn’sSupermanrecently flew past the total domestic haul ofBlack Adam.Releasing in 2022, the latter film was intended to revitalize the dwindling DCEU by capitalizing on Dwayne Johnson’s star power and teasing a showdown between him and Henry Cavill’s Superman. Alternatively,Supermanreboots the DCEU into the DC Universe, spearheaded by Gunn and his producing partner Peter Safran.
According toBox Office Mojo,Black Adamended its theatrical run at $168.2 million domestically and $225.3 million internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $393.5 million. Alternatively,Supermanis at $337.2 million total worldwide, with a breakdown of $194.4 million and $142.8 million internationally. Having passedBlack Adamdomestically,Supermanwill likely pass its total gross within the week.
What Superman Passing Black Adam’s Domestic Box Office Means For The DCU Film
Black Adam was considered a box office flop because—in spite of making $393.5 million total—it had a reported budget of between $195 and $260 million.On top of that, its marketing budget added around an extra $80 million. Given that a film generally requires at least double its budget in ticket sales to break even, this situates it in bomb territory.
Comparatively,Superman has a reported budget of $225 million, with upwards of $125 million or more in marketing costs. As such, it has a steep battle to break even as well. If sales hold well, then it should have no problem reaching the estimated $450 million to recoup its costs.
Making up the marketing budget may be a harder challenge, with a gross near $600 million to $700 million needed.Given that The Fantastic Four: First Steps releases next week, Superman may see dwindling returns.However, it has already held its own againstJurassic World: Rebirth, and positive word-of-mouth combined with repeat viewers could keep its numbers steady.
Our Take On Superman Passing Black Adam’s Domestic Box Office
Regardless, it has currentlypassed the total grossesofShazam!,The Flash,Birds of Prey,Wonder Woman 1984,The Suicide Squad,Shazam! Fury of the Gods, andBlue Beetle. To put it into perspective,Supermanis surpassing many of the poorer-performing DCEU films in only two weeks.
While the film may not be a success just yet, it is overtaking its DC predecessor slowly but surely. The irony here is especially apparent when comparing what each movie set out to do.Black Adamwas meant to salvage the DCEU, whileSupermanwipes the slate clean. It will certainly be interesting to see how the latter’s box office performance develops.
