‘Superman' flexes its might in second weekend with $57.3 million
None of the week's new releases — 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' 'Smurfs,' and 'Eddington' — came close to touching Warner Bros. and DC Studios' superhero success. 'Superman' dipped 54% from its domestic opening, an average decline for a big summer film.
In two weeks, 'Superman' has grossed $406.8 million worldwide, a good start for the movie DC Studios is banking on to restart its movie operations. A big test looms next weekend, when the Walt Disney Co. releases Marvel's 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps.'
Strong audience scores and good reviews should help propel the $225 million-budgeted 'Superman' toward profitability in the coming weeks. For Warner Bros. and DC Studios, 'Superman' is key to kicking off a 10-year plan for the comic book adaptation studio. Co-heads Gunn and Peter Safra were tasked with rehabilitating the flagging operation. Next on tap are the films 'Supergirl' and 'Clayface' in 2026.
But 'Superman' is far from flying solo in theaters right now. Universal Pictures' 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' came in second this weekend, with $23.4 million in its third week of release. The seventh 'Jurassic' movie, this one starring Scarlett Johansson, held its own despite the competition from 'Superman.' In three weeks, it accrued $648 million worldwide.
Apple Studios and Warner Bros.' 'F1: The Movie' has also shown legs, especially internationally. In its fourth weekend, the Brad Pitt racing drama dipped just 26% domestically, bringing in $9.6 million in North America, and another $29.5 million overseas. Its global total stands at $460.8 million.
But both of the biggest new releases — Sony Pictures' 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and Paramount Pictures' 'Smurfs' — fell flat.
'I Know What You Did Last Summer' opened with $13 million, a fair result for a movie budgeted at a modest $18 million, but a disappointing opening for a well-known horror franchise. The film, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, is set 27 years after the 1997 original. Teenagers played by Madelyn Cline and Chase Sui Wonders are again haunted for covering up a car accident.
The movie's reviews (38% 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes) were poor for 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' and audiences graded it similarly. The film notched a 'C+' on CinemaScore. The original collected $72.6 million in its domestic run in 1997.
Paramount Pictures' 'Smurfs' debuted in fourth place this weekend with $11 million. The latest big-screen reboot for the woodland blue creatures prominently features Rihanna as the voice of Smurfette. But reviews (21% 'fresh' on Rotten Tomatoes) were terrible. Audiences were kinder, giving it a 'B+' on CinemaScore, but the $58 million-budgeted release will depend largely on its international sales. In 56 overseas markets, 'Smurfs' earned $22.6 million.
Ari Aster's 'Eddington' opened with $4.2 million on 2,111 screens for A24. Since its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, 'Eddington' has been particularly divisive. The pandemic-set Western features Joaquin Phoenix as the right-wing sheriff of a small New Mexico town who faces off with its liberal mayor (Pedro Pascal).
While Aster's first film, 2018's 'Heredity' ($82.8 million worldwide against a $10 million budget) helped establish A24 as an indie powerhouse, but the less-than-stellar launch of 'Eddington' marks the second box-office disappointment for Aster. His 2023 film 'Beau Is Afraid' cost $35 million to make but collected just $12.4 million worldwide. 'Eddington' cost about $25 million to produce. Audiences gave it a 'C+' on CinemaScore. None of Aster's previous films have been graded higher.
Yet collectively, Hollywood is enjoying a very good summer. According to data firm Comscore, the 2025 summer box office is up 15.9% over the same period last year, with the year-to-date sales running 15% ahead of 2025. Summer ticket sales have amassed about $2.6 billion domestically, according to Comscore.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:
1. 'Superman,' $57.3 million.
2. 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' $23.4 million.
3. 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' $13 million.
4. 'Smurfs,' $11 million.
5, 'F1: The Movie,' $9.6 million.
6. 'How to Train Your Dragon,' $5.4 million.
7. 'Eddington,' $4.3 million.
8. 'Elio,' $2 million.
9. 'Lilo & Stitch,' $1.5 million.
10. '28 Years Later,' $1.3 million.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Teen Titans: DCU Movie Could Be Coming Sooner Than Fans Think
The DCU movie has received an exciting update. In March 2024, it was reported that a live-action Teen Titans movie was in the works at DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures. Written by Ana Nogueira, the movie does not yet have a director yet but will be part of James Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU. In February 2025, Safran said, via Variety, that the script for Teen Titans is 'not ready yet.' Gunn added, 'It was something that Ana was really impassioned about, and she turned over an amazing script for us. She's fiddling with that now, but it's definitely not a finished script.' What is the update on the DCU Teen Titans movie? While there's been little news about the project since then, Jeff Sneider's The InSneider reports, 'Nogueira has already handed in her first draft of Teen Titans, and owes DC a revision, which she'll work on while writing Wonder Woman.' Given that Wonder Woman is said to be a priority for Warner Bros. at this time, this news is exciting in that it means the Teen Titans script could be coming together in a timely manner, too. Gunn has previously stated that they won't move forward on any DCU projects until the script meets their standards; however, given that Nogueira is writing two DCU projects at once, Gunn and Safran seem to have faith in her, and that means development on Teen Titans could be moving forward in the very near future. Further details about the project remain under wraps, as no plot details or casting information are available at this time. The DCU kicked off in December 2024 with Creature Commandos. That was followed by Gunn's Superman movie earlier this month, while Peacemaker Season 2 premieres in August 2025. Lanterns, Clayface, and Supergirl will all be released in 2026. Originally reported by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype. The post Teen Titans: DCU Movie Could Be Coming Sooner Than Fans Think appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Teen Titans: James Gunn Offers Disappointing Update for DCU Movie
James Gunn has offered an update about the DCU movie. In March 2024, it was reported that a Teen Titans movie was in development at DC Studios and Warner Bros. Pictures. Written by Ana Nogueira, the film will be part of Gunn and Peter Safran's DCU, which officially kicked off in December 2024 with Creature Commandos. Safran said about the project, via Variety, in February 2025, 'The script's not ready yet. I mean, I think we said that Ana Nogueira is writing it.' 'We haven't said that,' Gunn said. 'No, I think it was out there,' Safran said. 'I think it was out there.' 'It's out there,' Gunn said. 'It was something that Ana was really impassioned about, and she turned over an amazing script for us. She's fiddling with that now, but it's definitely not a finished script.' What did James Gunn say about Teen Titans? On Threads, Gunn clarified that when he said 'she turned over an amazing script for us,' he was referring to Nogueira's script for Supergirl, which arrives in 2026, rather than the Teen Titans movie. Nogueira is now writing the DCU Wonder Woman movie. While Jeff Sneider's The InSneider recently reported that Nogueira 'has already handed in her first draft of Teen Titans, and owes DC a revision, which she'll work on while writing Wonder Woman,' Gunn says the Teen Titans script 'doesn't exist' at this point in time. In another comment, he reiterated that he has 'never read a script' for Teen Titans and seemed to confirm that the project is on the back burner for now. Neither the DCU Teen Titans nor Wonder Woman movies have release dates at this time; however, Wonder Woman is expected to come first, as Gunn recently said it's a priority for the studio at this time following the success of Superman. No director is yet attached to the project. Originally reported by Brandon Schreur at SuperHeroHype. The post Teen Titans: James Gunn Offers Disappointing Update for DCU Movie appeared first on - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
I watched Fantastic Four and Superman back-to-back, and now I'm more worried than ever that there's no way back for Marvel
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. A lot of people have had really high hopes for The Fantastic Four: First Steps in the build-up to its release. I have been feeling more cautious – even as someone who rates Avengers: Endgame as one of the few movies I'd give five stars to – but in principle it definitely looked set to deliver what I'd want from it. Charismatic cast, cool retro-futurist production design, a very giant man – that kind of thing. Sadly, when the credits rolled, the first words I used to describe it were "aggressively fine". Somehow, despite succeeding in giving me everything I mentioned above, I found it bland and formless. [Spoilers for both Fantastic Four and Superman from here!] Everything seems to come incredibly easily to Marvel's first family. Reed happens to have already been working on the technology they need to win the day. Johnny translates and learns a whole alien language in a couple of months (I assume? The timeline of events is also pretty slippery). Sue is exactly powerful enough for whatever needs to happen at the time. I felt basically nothing about any of it. It wasn't thrilling, it wasn't exciting. Even the characters and the world they live in seem to feel the same way as me – everyone seems so flat and bored, inside the Baxter Building and outside it. I'd have assumed the America of Earth 828 is in a great depression or war, if the movie hadn't made clear that the Fantastic Four created a techno-utopia. Obviously, I don't expect to go into a superhero movie and feel any genuine worry that a lead character is going to die, or that the world might end. Instead, these movies are supposed to leave you wondering 'How are they going to get out of this one?' and then surprise you with a cool result. First Steps tells you exactly how they're going to get out of this one in advance, and then they get out of this one in essentially the exact way they promised. I can even get on board with that, if a movie is interesting along the way, thematically. If it does daring things with its character interactions and motivations, if it's exploring meaty themes, or if it least makes me think about something these movies haven't really tackled before. Thunderbolts* has a good dose of this, and is Marvel's best movie in years as a result. First Steps can't get any theme beyond first gear, so there's nothing for me to chew on here. But still, I found it to be a diverting one hour 55 minutes, even if it was disappointing as the hopeful 'Don't worry, Marvel's turning a corner' movie I'd expected it to be. But then I went straight into my second viewing of Superman, and the contrast between them makes FF look even worse in my eyes, and Superman look even more impressive. Tales from the Krypto keeper Superman manages a more engaging character dynamic in its first three minutes than Fantastic Four manages in its entire run-time, and only one of the characters involved can speak. Krypto's lack of obedience in the opening sets up that this movie will have the exact opposite to FF's problem, where everything comes too easy: in Superman, being the most powerful metahuman in the world doesn't stop things being really damn hard. (In general, I think the writing around Krypto is genius. Having an obedient dog who's as strong as Superman basically means you have two Supermans. Supermen? In any case, that would be a lot for the first movie narrative to handle. Making Krypto a force of uncontrolled, chaotic good solves that problem.) Where Fantastic Four travels inexorably from plot point to plot point on rails, Superman swings between surprises. Lex has a pocket universe! Superman and Lois have a tense journalistic sparring! Now there's a kaiju! This one dude turns into kryptonite! Why are all these things happening? Because it's a comic book movie, partly, and this is like flicking through a comics run where different issues have vastly different stuff going on. But it's partly also because this movie has a lot on its mind. Without getting bogged down in taking any metaphor so seriously that it becomes a full-on allegory, Superman asks questions about the morals of intervening in the conflicts of other countries, of the motives of people who have the resources to manipulate the world in the background (okay, creating a literal rift between people might be leaning more towards allegory), and of how immigrants find their personal identity, among others. These create a world where Superman's principles and morals make him a nuanced and interesting character. When fighting the kaiju, the recklessness of the Justice Gang (we'll assume they've settled on that name for now…) means he has to spend all of his energy not fighting the monster, and trying to persuade people he can't fight to be cool about it. One of my favorite moments in the movie is when he tells Lois he's going to turn himself in to the government, but it's not because he's a Boy Scout who respects the process and the law – he casually throws out that it's the only way to find Krypto. Turning himself in is required to satisfy his morals, but not in the way we might've seen in the past. Despite being a mile-a-minute movie that bounces through all kind of bonkers comic-book scenarios, it still finds the time to give you something to chew on when you leave the screen. It was worth watching a second time to dig into the themes I picked up the first time, and to see more seething nuance from Nicholas Hoult's fantastic performance as Lex Luthor, especially. It seems like it must be a three-hour movie, yet it's only 130 minutes. Fantastic Four, by contrast, I can't believe filled 115 minutes. Events just slipped by me, like I was drifting down a lazy river in a floating ring. As someone who mostly goes hard for the idea that movies generally need to be shorter, maybe this one needed more time for there to actually be some friction in it. But maybe that wouldn't have helped either… Is there any juice left to squeeze Marvel has been down for a while, but I've hoped that with the right course correction we could see a return to form. A slower schedule, a willingness to be more daring, a narrower focus on the story of each movie… the one-two punch of Thunderbolts* and First Steps seemed like they should be the chance to showcase that, and build towards Doomsday being genuinely exciting. Unfortunately, they've mostly convinced me that Marvel has lost its juice in a way that's maybe irretrievable. I think Thunderbolts* is a good movie, and yet despite being built around this heavy metaphor for mental health (which I think it delivers really well), it left me with no impression after I left the cinema. Even though it's a more thinky film, I didn't really think about it. It said what it has to say about its themes, and asks no questions beyond them. Fantastic Four doesn't even manage that. It has all the ingredients, but is totally unexciting and only just qualifies as charming. The Incredibles is 21 years old and does everything better than this movie, despite being a barely-concealed Fantastic Four rip-off. Superman left me with things to talk about and think about – character motivations, themes, clever writing. I don't particularly care if DC successfully launches its new cinematic universe off the back of Superman. I won't be excited just by the thought that a movie will tie into Superman. I'll get the thrill of anticipation if I trust a movie's going to be good. I'm excited to see the next movie that comes from the DC creative team. I don't feel that way about Marvel any more, and First Steps is the final nail in that coffin. You might also like I only needed to see 30 seconds of James Gunn's Superman to have full confidence in the DCU's Supergirl movie Avengers: Doomsday's second lead is rumored to be Chris Hemsworth's Thor, and I know exactly how he's trained for the next Marvel movie The Fantastic Four: First Steps director has a blunt message for fans who criticised the Marvel movie's visual effects: 'I think they're beautiful' Solve the daily Crossword
