Box office: Superman takes off, but how high can he fly?
The latest Superman reboot had a slightly smaller opening than the last one, Man of Steel. But it also had the best opening of any PG-13 superhero movie since 2022.
The big highlight this week is, of course, the new Superman reboot, which is supposed to kick off a whole new “universe” of DC Comics movies:
The new film had a slightly smaller opening than the title character’s last reboot, 2013’s Man of Steel, despite the fact that ticket prices are significantly higher now and the new film had a greater number of “preview” screenings.
The new film also didn’t do much better than the title character’s first reboot, 2006’s Superman Returns, once you adjust for inflation and other factors.
However, the new film did have the best opening of any PG-13 superhero movie since 2022.
So, while Superman himself may have seen better days, the new film’s opening is a bit of qualified good news for the superhero genre as a whole, which had been showing signs of “fatigue” in recent years.
The question now is what kind of legs this film will have, and whether it can succeed where other films have failed in launching its “universe”.1
And now, a few more stats and facts re: this week’s top ten, title by title:
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