It’s up, up and away for Warner Bros. and DC Studios‘ “Superman,” which got off the ground with $56.5 million across Friday and preview screenings in 4,135 theaters. That’s the second-biggest such figure for the calendar year, floating just behind “A Minecraft Movie” ($57.11 million) and ahead of “Lilo & Stitch” ($55.94 million).
Of note, “Superman” earned some extra cash with early-access screenings on Tuesday for Amazon Prime members, playing before the traditional Thursday evening opening.
The superhero reboot, written and directed by the “Guardians of the Galaxy” trilogy’s James Gunn, drew conservative mid-week projections for a debut of $100 million, while some more bullish outlets were forecasting north of $140 million less than 24 hours ago. Things are looking to settle closer to $120 million. “Superman” gets a revenue boost from luxury ticket prices for Imax and other premium large format auditoriums.
It’s a successful lift-off for the Man of Steel, plus an additional notch for the box office hot streak at Warner Bros., which has strung together a run of hits that started with the opening of “A Minecraft Movie” back in April. But “Superman” is a much more consequential film for Warner Bros. than its average theatrical release. Along with its big $225 million production budget, the film has the responsibility of launching a new on-screen universe for DC Comics characters, laying the groundwork for what could potentially be many more lucrative years of superhero blockbusters.
To fully solidify that this franchise is here to stay, “Superman” will have to hold strong after the fan-driven opening and stay relevant among other summer competitors. It’s got good reviews on its side, plus strong approval among ticketbuyers, as indicated by the “A-” grade polled by survey firm CinemaScore.
David Corenswet becomes the Man of Steel in this reboot, facing off against billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) and, under his day-player name Clark Kent, working with journalist Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). There are also a bunch of other superheroes, including Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), Metamorpho (Anthony Carrigan) and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi) — plus Daily Planet reporter Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) too.
Sliding to second, Universal’s “Jurassic World Rebirth” added another $11.3 million on Friday. The seventh entry in the dino franchise is eyeing $38.7 million across the three-day frame, which would be down 58% from its Friday-to-Sunday total a week ago. (Notably, “Rebirth” had a five-day opening, starting on a Wednesday ahead of the Fourth of July holiday.)
That’d be a hair stronger than the 59.2% sophomore slide by its franchise predecessor, 2022’s “Jurassic World Dominion.” “Rebirth” crossed a $200 million domestic gross on Friday and looks to hit $230 million through the end of the weekend. After 10 days of release, it already ranks as the fifth-highest-grossing North American release of the year. But “Dominion” earned $250 million through the same time frame. “Rebirth” is putting up an inarguable blockbuster performance, but there is some noteworthy franchise decay in the numbers.
Third goes to Warner Bros.’ release of Apple Studios’ racing thriller “F1,” which added another $3.7 million on Friday, down 47% from its daily total a week ago. The Brad Pitt-led production has now earned $126.9 million in North America and climbed into the top 10 domestic earners of the year so far. Whether Apple can turn much of a theatrical profit on “F1,” with its massive $250 million production budget and many more millions in marketing costs, is a questionable prospect. But the tech giant has made its biggest splash yet in theaters, and international grosses have been strong.
Universal gets fourth with “How to Train Your Dragon,” still spreading its wings in the top five in its fifth weekend of release. The live-action remake added another $2.3 million on Friday and is projecting a $7.7 million three-day haul (a 31% drop). Total domestic gross looks to hit $239 million through the weekend. Of note, “Train Your Dragon” has now outgrossed its source material, DreamWorks Animation’s 2010 original, making it the biggest entry ever for the property.
Disney and Pixar’s “Elio” rounds out the top five, adding another $1.2 million on Friday to push its domestic total to $60.9 million. Now in its fourth weekend of release, the original animated feature has actually been putting up decent week-to-week holds, but not strong enough to overcome its disappointing $20 million opening weekend — the lowest-ever for a Pixar feature.