Looking back at Superman's storied movie history, fans can find a box office target that James Gunn's DC reboot must hit to succeed. Gunn's Superman is mere days away from soaring into theaters, setting in motion the Guardians of the Galaxy director's new vision for an interconnected on-screen DC universe (dubbed the DCU). After some up and down years at the ticket window, the David Corenswet-led super-powered blockbuster is being eyed to usher in a new era for the Blue Brand (one that hopefully brings box office success).
As James Gunn's Superman approaches its worldwide release, fans have begun to worry over what mark the movie needs to hit to be considered a success by the powers that be at Warner Bros. The debut DC Studios movie has had several box office figures thrown at it in the lead-up to its official release, with varying degrees of success expected for the new comic book epic. One figure that has floated around has been that Superman needs to make upwards of $700 million globally to be considered a win (a mark only one Superman movie to date has ever hit), but Gunn does not seem to think so.
In a conversation with Variety, the Superman filmmaker chimed in on the box office speculation surrounding his new movie. "It's not as big as people make it out to be," Gunn remarked, saying the '$700 million to be successful' sentiment going around is "utter nonsense:"
"Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be. They hear these numbers that the movie’s only going to be successful if it makes $700 million or something and it’s just complete and utter nonsense. It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying."
While that may be the statement Gunn is providing publicly, it is hard to deny that there are significant expectations for Superman. After all, this is the first movie of the DCU, so Warner Bros. and the DC Studios team will surely want the new film to get things off on the right foot.
As the Superman director said, that $700 million mark may be a little inaccurate. So, it may be best to look back at the Man of Steel's cinematic past to see just what the bar of success for the last son of Krypton is when it comes to box office totals.
According to reports, Superman has a budget of about $225 million. Pair that with the typical $150 to $200 million of marketing spend on summer blockbusters such as the new Gunn-directed epic, and Superman should have a break-even point of about $400 million.
That means a global box office target of around $500 million seems appropriate, which would put it right between Man of Steel and Superman Returns' worldwide haul.
Superman soars into theaters on Friday, July 11. The new film from Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn stars David Corenswet as DC Comics' iconic boy in blue, as he takes on the villainous Lex Luthor (played by X-Men: First Class star Nicholas Hoult). The latest Superman reboot is set to not only ring in a new era for the beloved comic book character but also DC's on-screen efforts as a whole, as the first movie of the new DCU under Gunn and his DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran.
Outside of Corenswet and Hoult, the Superman cast is rounded out by the likes of Rachel Brosnahan (Lois Lane), Nathan Fillion (Guy Gardner), and Isabela Merced (Hawkgirl), among others.
Ranking Every Superman Movie By Box Office Success
Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
- Worldwide Total: $874.4 million
- Worldwide Total Adjusted for Inflation: $1.17 billion
Sitting atop the Superman box office list is Zack Snyder's Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice. Say what you will about the quality of the movie, but Snyder's second stab at his DCEU was a money-maker, capping out at $874.4 million and serving as the crème de la crème of Superman movies.
Adjusted for inflation, that $874.4 million mark is a whopping $1.17 billion in 2025 dollars. If James Gunn's Superman could reach a total anywhere close to Snyder's Henry Cavill/Ben Affleck two-hander, the Warner Bros. brass would be absolutely giddy.
Man of Steel (2013)
- Worldwide Total: $670.1 million
- Worldwide Total Adjusted for Inflation: $924.2 million
Just below Batman vs Superman on the all-time Superman movie rankings (at least in terms of box office return) is 2013's Man of Steel. The Henry Cavill-led Superman origin story raked in a stellar $670.1 million worldwide ($924.2 million when adjusted for inflation).
$670.1 million feels like a respectable goal for James Gunn and co. to aim for with his new Superman reboot, as that would put it right around other comic book movie hits like Marvel Studios' Doctor Strange and Fox's R-rated Logan in all-time box office total.
Superman Returns (2006)
- Worldwide Total: $391 million
- Worldwide Total Adjusted for Inflation: $623.4 million
2006's Superman Returns, while considered a critical miss, was still a relatively sizable financial success. The Brandon Routh-led blockbuster, which brought audiences back into the world of Superman for the first time in nearly 20 years, brought in $391 million at the global box office ($623.4 million in 2025 dollars).
If Superman could hit somewhere around Superman Returns' adjusted for inflation total, Warner would likely consider it a success, prompting the rest of the DCU to go forward without a hit. However, if it is closer to Returns' actual worldwide total, we may have a problem on our hands.
Superman (1978)
- Worldwide Total: $300.5 million
- Worldwide Total Adjusted for Inflation: $1.4 billion
1978's Superman taught the world a man could fly, as it marked the first attempt at DC's Man of Steel on-screen and the first major superhero movie to hit theater screens. Led by the late Christopher Reeve and directed by the great Richard Donner, Superman soared to new box office heights, earning a staggering $300.5 million at the global box office—enough to become Warner's highest-grossing movie ever for the time.
To put Superman's financial success into perspective, the 1978 classic earned a stunning $1.4 billion when adjusted for inflation. Warner would love it if James Gunn's Superman reboot would catch fire like Donner's original did nearly 50 years ago, but given the crowded theatrical landscape, it seems highly unlikely that will be the case.
Superman II (1980)
- Worldwide Total: $216.3 million
- Worldwide Total Adjusted for Inflation: $843 million
After the massive success of 1978's Superman, Superman II managed to keep the momentum up when it was released just two years later in 1980. The high-flying sequel, which saw Reeves' Man of Steel take on a trio of Kryptonian villains in the dastardly Zod Trio, climbed to $216.3 million at the global box office ($843 million in 2025 dollars).
A $216.3 million box office return for Superman would be a massive miss for the studios. According to industry reporting, the new James Gunn reboot is carrying a production budget of roughly $225 million, meaning if Superman were to make as much as Superman II did all those years ago, it would not break even.
Superman III (1983)
- Worldwide Total: $80.2 million
- Worldwide Total Adjusted for Inflation: $258.8 million
In the original Superman quadrilogy, it was after Superman II that things really started to fall off at the ticket window. Superman III, released in 1983, only managed to make $80.2 million at the global box office ($258.8 million when adjusted for inflation).
The movie was considered a massive critical flop and a fall from box office grace for the hero at the time, leading some to question whether the superhero genre had run out of steam on the big screen (even though, knowing what we know now, it hadn't).
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
- Worldwide Total: $30.2 million
- Worldwide Total Adjusted for Inflation: $85.4 million
Sitting at the bottom of the Superman movie box office rankings (whether looking at actual global gross or that same total adjusted for inflation) is the oft-maligned Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. The 1987 blockbuster marked the last Christopher Reeve-led Superman film and the end of an era of super-powered cinematic storytelling.
The Quest for Peace scraped by with a paltry global box office total of $30.2 million ($85.4 million in 2025 dollars). For perspective, the recently released Jurassic World: Rebirth made more than either of those figures in just its domestic opening weekend.
