Hollywood's 'Superman' Movie Underperforms, Joining List of Unsuccessful Superhero Films
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Superhero movies, including James Gunn's Superman (2025), are facing box office challenges due to intense competition, shifting audience preferences, and declining international performance.
Key reasons for these struggles include competition from other films, superhero market saturation and audience fatigue, inflation and changing viewing habits, and the box office dynamics of recent superhero films.
Competition from other films, such as Disney's The Fantastic Four: First Steps, divides the superhero audience and affects box office revenue. For instance, Fantastic Four is expected to dominate some weekends, taking premium formats like IMAX away from Superman, driving up to a 60% drop in Superman’s domestic weekly revenue.
Some experts note a decline in superhero films' appeal, particularly in international markets such as China, where American superhero movies have been crowded out by other genres. This has led to weaker international box office revenues compared to other blockbusters like Jurassic World: Rebirth.
Higher ticket and concession prices may dissuade some viewers from going to theaters, opting instead to wait for streaming releases like those on Disney+. This affects especially international performance where inflation impacts are significant.
Despite Superman’s solid opening ($125 million domestically) and outgrossing most 2025 superhero peers ($472 million worldwide), its box office is expected to decline sharply as other films rise and competition persists. Fantastic Four saw a steeper drop-off (67%) after its first weekend compared to Superman’s (53%), but Superman still faces challenges maintaining momentum amid a crowded release schedule.
Notably, superhero films overall have grossed over $1.7 billion in 2025 across major releases, showing the genre still holds substantial commercial weight despite localized struggles. However, the challenges Superman faces reflect broader trends of competition, regional market difficulties, and evolving audience demographics impacting superhero movies' box office returns this year.
James Gunn's political comments are unlikely to have impacted the international gross of Superman. In an interview with the Times of London, Gunn stated, "Yes, it's about politics", a statement unusual for a film that isn't particularly political.
Multiple sources predicted that Superman would need to cross the $700 million threshold to reach profitability, but the film is officially a box-office failure. To compensate, smaller or more original projects were outsourced to Netflix and other streaming services.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe, following the success of "Iron Man", led to a reorganization of the entertainment industry, prioritizing superhero movies. However, the appetite for superhero movies is clearly dwindling, raising uncomfortable questions about the industry's future.
There is a need for answers on how to refocus on storytelling in the industry, as there are concerns about whether it was a mistake to focus on specific criteria over quality in movie production. Hollywood is already struggling, and this raises uncomfortable questions about the industry's future.
Movies-and-tv like Disney's The Fantastic Four: First Steps compete with superhero movies, such as James Gunn's Superman, causing a division in the audience and affecting box office revenue. Sports and entertainment, including ticket and concession price inflation, changing viewing habits, and other factors, also contribute to the decline in superhero movies' box office returns.
