Superman director James Gunn debunks a new rumor about the film while also revealing its actual run time. On the social media platform Threads, the filmmaker interacted with some fans asking questions about Superman. One person inquired about the film’s run time, which is now listed as 2 hours, 9 minutes on the official AMC Theatres website. Gunn confirmed that is Superman‘s final run time, including credits and the post-credits scene. As a follow-up, someone else asked if Warner Bros. demanded Gunn make Superman shorter. Gunn shared that there was no studio interference, and the run time was completely DC Studios’ call.
“Zero truth to that,” Gunn said in response to the rumor about WB. “And they couldn’t even if that’s something that they wanted to. It’s a DC Studios film.”
Over the past couple of weeks, the Superman run time has been a point of discussion. Earlier rumors pointed to it being 122 minutes, or 2 hours, 2 minutes, long. That proved to not be the case when Gunn weighed in on the speculation, revealing that there was still some work to be done on a handful of VFX shots before the final picture was locked.
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Ahead of Superman‘s release in July, WB is in the midst of a massive marketing push, releasing new trailers, unveiling tie-in merchandise, and more. As the DC Universe franchise kicks off in earnest, WB has a lot riding on Superman‘s success. Reports indicate the film needs to gross at least $500 million worldwide to turn a profit and over $700 million in order to be considered a commercial success.
DC Studios is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery, but it is a separate entity from Warner Bros. Pictures. Even though Warner Bros. Pictures is distributing Superman, it doesn’t have control over creative decisions since the film is a DC Studios production. That’s why Gunn has final say on the run time. Co-heads Gunn and Peter Safran answer to WBD CEO David Zaslav, but it sounds like they have the leeway to run things with minimal studio interference. That will ideally allow the DC Universe to blossom over the next couple of years, striking a balance between projects that are filmmaker-driven while also delivering a sizable profit. Gunn’s proven to be very successful helming comic book adaptations throughout his career, so he’s earned this amount of freedom as he gets a new franchise off the ground.
Shorter run times means theaters can book more showtimes daily, which is probably why some thought WB pushed for Superman to be trimmed a bit. However, the movie’s final run time is actually seven minutes longer than what was initially reported, and Superman should still be set up for success. A run time in the neighborhood of two hours means there should be plenty of space for several screenings each day, which should benefit Superman. July will be a very busy month at the box office with the releases of Jurassic World Rebirth and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, so every extra showtime helps.
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