Superman director James Gunn pushes back on the notion that the film is under extreme pressure to perform at the box office. In a wide-ranging interview with Rolling Stone, the filmmaker was asked about reports suggesting the future of DC Studios (or even Warner Bros. Pictures itself) is riding on how much money Superman makes when it opens in theaters later this summer. Gunn dismissed the idea that Superman needs to be a record-breaking success in order for the DC Universe to continue, pointing to the grosses of other films, like Iron Man. In Gunn’s mind, Superman is just one cog of a much larger wheel that already has other projects in motion.
“Really, I just go, ‘That’s their business.’ Because that’s not the truth for me,” Gunn said when asked about reports concerning Superman‘s box office. “My truth is this is the first movie out of DC Studios. Other people may say, ‘It’s gotta be a home run, nothing else.’ I’m like, ‘No, I’d be very happy with a double.’ F—ing Iron Man wasn’t the be-all and end-all. It wasn’t Avatar. We are doing something that’s a piece of the puzzle. It’s not the puzzle itself. We have Peacemaker, we have Supergirl, and what we want to do is make a movie that people love, they feel connected to the characters. It’s just this one movie. It’s not everything.”
He continued, “I hate it when there’s a f—ing article and it’s going on about all the problems and blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, and ‘that means even more pressure on James Gunn and Superman.‘ I’m like, ‘Guys, I’m not responsible for all that. I’m responsible for my piece of the pie. I’ve gotta make my budget back. I’ll be very happy with that.’”
Earlier in the year, there were concerns that Warner Bros. was on very shaky ground. On the heels of notable box office bombs such as Joker: Folie à Deux and Mickey 17, some reports indicated WB could be sold off a la 20th Century Fox if Superman did not perform exceptionally well in theaters. Of course, this was before WB released massive hits such as A Minecraft Movie and Sinners, which are two of the highest-grossing films of the year so far.
Warner Bros. is very excited about Superman, with executives Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy praising Gunn for “understanding the assignment.” The studio is currently in the midst of a sizable marketing campaign for the film, which ushers in a new era for DC on the big screen. Next year sees the release of Supergirl and Clayface, so while DC Studios waits to see how Superman performs, Gunn and Co. continue to plot out the DCU’s future.
Obviously, Superman needs to turn a healthy profit so the DCU gets off on the right foot and more projects can continue through development. However, Gunn is right in stating there’s no need for Superman to break records. The film can still be a successful start for a new franchise without rewriting the history books. Gunn references the first Iron Man, which kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe with $585.7 million worldwide back in 2008. And it was 20 years ago that Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins grossed just $375.4 million globally, but it was considered a large enough hit to warrant two sequels that passed the $1 billion mark. Sometimes, Hollywood’s biggest franchises have humble beginnings before moving on to bigger and better things. There definitely are expectations for Superman considering he’s one of DC’s premier characters, but Gunn has the correct mindset.
With Superman sandwiched between other high-profile studio tentpoles Jurassic World Rebirth and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, sky-high box office projections might be unfair. All three of these films are targeting similar demographics, which could impact how well they hold after opening weekend. It’s not like Superman has the entire month of July to itself; Jurassic World and Fantastic Four are two highly anticipated projects that should make a pretty penny. As long as Superman has a strong opening weekend and can parlay that into the “double” Gunn talks about, it should be in good shape. This year has already seen two Marvel movies underwhelm at the box office, so a profitable superhero movie would be worth celebrating — regardless of how high the total gross is.
The post James Gunn Pushes Back on Superman Box Office Expectations appeared first on ComicBook.com.
