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When “Superman” hits theaters on July 11, more than just the future of the DC superhero wing hangs in the balance.
The opening salvo in a rebooted approach to an interconnected DC universe, “Superman” represents a make-or-break moment for Warner Brothers Discovery CEO David Zaslav’s strategy to leverage DC’s intellectual property after previous Warner regimes struggled for years to build a cohesive cinematic universe that connected with global audiences.
The litmus test will be whether director and DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn’s film will generate enough box office to keep his and co-CEO Peter Safran’s ambitious 10-year plan for DC Studios on track.
With a $225 million budget, “Superman” needs to cross the $700 million threshold at the global box office to be considered a success, according to a top talent agent who spoke to TheWrap but wished to remain anonymous.
“While release dates are important, I don’t think the challenge is ‘Jurassic World: Rebirth’ or any other film,” the agent said of the film’s summer competition. “The challenge is almost entirely a question of if Superman resonates with today’s audience. Did they successfully update an Eisenhower-era character so the 2025 Gen Z audience can identify with him?”
The stakes couldn’t be higher. The company is still carrying $37 billion in debt from the 2022 Discovery-WarnerMedia merger, making Superman’s performance critical to Zaslav’s use of franchise IP to drive both theatrical and streaming revenue. It’s one of many IP pillars he reignited after the merger, along with HBO’s upcoming “Harry Potter” series and a new “Lord of the Rings” film.
In short, “Superman” is a major test not just for the superhero genre, but Zaslav’s vision for Warner Brothers as a whole.
The $700 million threshold
The studio itself seems confident. According to one insider, if “Superman” grosses anything north of $500 million worldwide, the film will turn a profit at the box office (not inclusive of ancillary revenues). In the court of public opinion, however, it will need to gross closer to $700 million to be considered a hit.
Henry Cavill’s previous outings as Superman — the Zack Snyder-directed “Man of Steel,” which made $670 million worldwide; and the team-up movie that followed, “Batman v Superman,” which cracked $874 million — provide the baseline, but neither film managed to spark universe-building success.
“The simple brand recognition of Superman will probably take them to or close to $500 million worldwide, but anything above that will be because the audience identifies with the title character,” the talent agent said.
The film is a true reboot of the property, written and directed by Gunn, who also serves as the co-CEO of DC Studios with his longtime manager and producer Safran. David Corenswet, a 31-year-old actor whose biggest film role to date was in last year’s “Twisters” opposite Glen Powell, fills the title role, while Emmy-winning “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” actress Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult is the villainous Lex Luthor.
It’s a young cast, and while the stars are far from unknowns, the ensemble doesn’t have an A-list “ringer” that is sometimes used to entice audiences, such as Gene Hackman and Marlon Brando in the original 1978 “Superman.”
The stakes
“Superman” is the first film in a 10-year plan of interconnected films and TV shows that Gunn and Safran have planned to rival Marvel’s MCU, one they laid out when they first took over as co-CEOs of DC Studios at the behest of Zaslav in 2022.
The rub, of course, is that Gunn is not just the co-head of this entire DC universe but also directly responsible for the film, and if “Superman” underperforms, the larger plans face significant challenges.
“Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” — directed by journeyman filmmaker Craig Gillespie and slated for release in 2026 — is the only other DC movie currently guaranteed, as it completed production earlier this year.
Given the previous DCEU’s (DC Extended Universe) commercial shortcomings, and underwhelming results for the 2023 release “The Flash,” DC Studios appears to be taking a cautious approach to expanding beyond Batman. “Outside of anything Batman-related, DC will most likely wait to react to how ‘Superman’ performs before deciding on which superhero from their library to tackle next,” the DC insider told TheWrap. “Greenlighting ‘Supergirl’ may seem risky, but it extends the new universe they are trying to establish and shows a commitment to the larger brand.”
A “Sgt. Rock” film, to be directed by Luca Guadagnino and with Colin Farrell in talks to star, was scrapped in April, further underlining the caution ahead of “Superman.” Another movie, “Clayface,” secured a fall 2026 release date but is still undergoing script changes before it moves into production. “The Batman: Part II” starts filming in 2026, but that film is outside DC Studios’ continuity and essentially exists in its own universe.
The insider added: “’Supergirl’ is a much safer bet than, say, ‘Sgt. Rock,’ which despite a good package, is a property with zero awareness in the greater landscape. There are better superheroes ripe for adaptation in the DC library.”
This careful strategy is not only cognizant of the cooler market for the superhero genre (even Marvel’s last two films have failed to crack $500 million) but also reflects lessons learned from the previous Warner regime’s failures.
The Snyder-era DC Extended Universe began with “Man of Steel’s” $670 million worldwide gross in 2013, but “Batman v Superman” suffered a massive 69% second-weekend drop despite a strong $166 million opening. While “Wonder Woman” was a critical and commercial hit in 2017 ($824 million worldwide) and 2018’s “Aquaman” was the first to crack $1 billion, the franchise crashed and burned with the reshoots-plagued “Justice League,” which opened to just $93.1 million domestic and failed to match even “Man of Steel,” with $661 million worldwide.
The stewardship of DC has undergone considerable turnover, especially in contrast to the consistency of Marvel under Kevin Feige’s leadership. Greg Silverman served as President of Creative Development and Worldwide Production at Warner Bros. and launched the DCEU with 2013’s “Man of Steel.” He also oversaw “Batman v Superman” before being ousted at the end of 2016.
Jon Berg and Geoff Johns then took over and launched DC Films in May of 2016, overseeing the launch of “Wonder Woman,” the DCEU’s top domestic grosser at $413 million. Following the failure of “Justice League,” Berg stepped down. Six months later, Johns followed.
In January 2018, Walter Hamada joined DC Films and led the division to the successful“Aquaman,” but he left DC Films in October 2022, after Zaslav took over, subsequently tapping Gunn and Safran to run the division.
Before Gunn and Safran’s hiring, Warner Bros. Pictures chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy briefly tried to get a standalone Henry Cavill-led “Superman” film going in 2022, with Michael Bay eyed to possibly direct, according to two insiders. A spokesperson for WB denies this claim.
Zaslav restructured DC operations after the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger, siloing Gunn and Safran from the larger Warner Bros. Pictures group. The duo report directly to Zaslav, not to De Luca and Abdy. This mirrors the successful Marvel Studios structure and represents a complete organizational overhaul from the previous regime.
Earlier this month during the the studio’s first quarter earnings call, Zaslav underlined how critical he sees DC as a pillar of his IP approach. “When you look at the major characters that James Gunn and Peter Safran are developing with their 10-year plan around DC, that is to build asset value for us globally everywhere in the world, Wonder Woman, Batman, Superman, Supergirl,” he said. “We look at those as big asset builders and big differentiators.”
The success of Warner Bros.’ film slate in 2025 so far, between “A Minecraft Movie,” “Sinners” and “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” has likely given “Superman” something of a cushion when it comes to the company’s bottom line. But as for Zaslav’s plans to set the stage for consistent superhero hits from DC Studios, “Superman” needs to make a great first impression with fans that promises this isn’t yet another interconnected DC universe destined to fizzle out.
The Marketing Momentum
Early signs suggest “Superman” has overcome one of the DCEU’s biggest problems: audience apathy. The film’s December trailer became “the most-viewed and the most-talked-about trailer in the history of both DC and Warner Bros.,” according to Gunn, with over 250 million views, while generating more than a million social posts across various platforms.
The cast and Gunn kick off a monthlong global press tour in June that will see them traveling to London, Paris and Rio De Janiero before returning stateside. Warner Bros. is pulling out all the stops.
“The new Superman movie looks like a total return to form for DC with the new trailer for the film proving to be absolutely epic,” Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, told TheWrap. “If you look at the number of views that each of these trailers has received on YouTube, you can see that there’s a groundswell of interest in the new Superman movie.”
Can it hold, and will it be enough? While most industry insiders are bullish on “Superman,” the degree of that success will likely determine the future of Gunn and Safran’s universe-building strategy.
We’ll find out in July.
New 'Superman' Trailer Takes Flight