James Gunn has a theory for why “Superman” may not be performing as well at the international box office as it is domestically.
In an interview with Rolling Stones published Sunday, the “Superman” writer and director explained that while the Kryptonian is not as popular a character as someone like Batman is in overseas market, another aspect is how the rest of the world is thinking about the United States right now.
“Superman is not a known commodity in some places,” Gunn said. “He is not a big, known superhero in some places like Batman is. That affects things. And it also affects things that we have a certain amount of anti-American sentiment around the world right now. It isn’t really helping us.”
He continued: “So I think it’s just a matter of letting something grow. But again, for us, everything’s been a total win. Having the movie come out and be something that has been embraced by people everywhere — this is just the seed of the tree that Peter [Safran] and I have been watering for the past three years. So to be able to have it start off so positively has been incredibly overwhelming.”
Although he does not specify the cause of the “anti-American” sentiment, Gunn likely is referring to things like Trump’s tariff war which has caused issues with several countries in the first six months of his second term. Or it could be one of the handful of insults the president has slung at other international leaders and people.
Despite doing lower numbers internationally the first entry in the new DC cinematic universe is still a hit. It continued it’s reign at the top of the box office through it’s second week. The film brought in an industry estimated $57 million in its second weekend. At the current pace, it is on course for a domestic run of around $350 million – and despite lower returns internationally looking at around $600 million globally.
