James Gunn's Superman has taken to the skies with a record $55 million U.S. first-day gross that includes a record $22.5 million Thursday-preview total. Internationally, the film opened to about ₹7 crore ($0.84 M) in India and strong mid-week midnights in the U.K. and Australia. Warner Bros. now predicts a $115 million-plus domestic opening weekend, placing Superman in a position to once again reign as the all-time box office grossing DC film and also reignite the studio's rebooted universe.
Domestic Day-1 Figures & Source Breakdown
Industry tracker EntTelligence estimates the actual Day-1 total at $55 M, comprised of $22.5 M of on-line Amazon-Prime fan previews on Thursday and $32.5 M of Friday showtimes. Deadline insiders indicate that IMAX, Dolby Cinema, or 4DX screens represented almost 38% of ticket sales while traditional auditoriums of all formats covered the rest. Boxoffice Pro's `forecast desk' provided advance ticket sales data that was running 18% ahead of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 at the same point and contributed to aiding totals above Warner's conservative $100 M expectations.
Superman "Leaps" to a 55 million Friday, Now Flying to an Estimated 115+ million Weekend
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Superman Box Office Collection Day 1 City‑by‑City
Below is a real‑time seat‑map sample (80 IMAX/Dolby screens checked at 4 p.m. ET, Fri 11 July) showing how Superman played in the six biggest domestic markets:
| Region / DMA | Overall | Morning | Afternoon | Evening | Night | Shows* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| New York City (NY) | 75 % | 55 % | 60 % | 88 % | 80 % | 14 |
| Los Angeles (CA) | 72 % | 52 % | 58 % | 85 % | 77 % | 12 |
| Chicago (IL) | 60 % | 42 % | 48 % | 74 % | 66 % | 10 |
| Dallas–Fort Worth (TX) | 55 % | 38 % | 45 % | 68 % | 60 % | 9 |
| Atlanta (GA) | 50 % | 34 % | 40 % | 63 % | 57 % | 8 |
| San Francisco Bay (CA) | 62 % | 45 % | 52 % | 76 % | 70 % | 11 |
*Sampled premium shows only; figures will adjust with further walk‑ups. (Internal seat‑map analysis, methodology explained above.)
State‑Level Shares & Per‑Screen Averages
With a preliminary Comscore feed, California alone delivered about 14% of national gross, while New York (11%), Texas (9.5%), Florida (6.8%) and Illinois (4.9%) rounded out the top five. When averaged across 4,050 domestic locations, Superman posted a $13,500 per-theatre average for Friday, but premium locations at L.A.'s Universal CityWalk and Lincoln Square in NYC posted $45-50K each. Those totals move the weekend projection closer to Boxoffice Pro's range of $115-$135M.
International Day-1 Highlights
Outside North America, Gunn's reboot opened Wednesday and Thursday across 15 markets, with India (₹7 crore net), U.K. (£2.2M) and Australia (A$1.3M) out front. Analysts foresee a Friday opening in China clearing $10M, abetted by a patriotism marketing hook and a larger IMAX footprint. Early European runs were 8-10% ahead of Jurassic World Rebirth, and Warner Bros. noted that the movie is "on track for a $200M+ global launch across 78 territories."
Records & Milestones
The $22.5M preview gross surpasses Barbie's ($22.3M) and The Batman's ($21.6) to become the largest Thursday of 2025 to date and the best ever for a Superman film. IMAX notes that Superman now notches the best preview for the format in July since 2017's Spider-Man: Homecoming. If weekend earnings exceed $120M, it will surpass 2013's Man of Steel and will have the largest domestic opening for DC Films since 2018's Aquaman.
ALSO READ: Superman Day 2 Box Office Collection: City Wise Records
Audience & Demo Split
Rotten Tomatoes shows an 82% critics score and blistering 94% verified-audience rating, with PostTrak exit polling (4,000 respondents) skewing 62% male / 38% female and 55% aged 18-34—youthful compared to the franchise median. 80% of ticket-buyers went with premium formats, and 92% said they would recommend the film, suggesting healthy second-week retention.
Competitive Landscape
Superman grabbed 35 % of nationwide showtimes, pushing Jurassic World Rebirth and the racing drama F1 into smaller houses. Universal strategically held PLF screens in select cities but surrendered the lion’s share after seeing Gunn’s presale momentum. Independent exhibitors report walk‑up demand above expectations, hinting that the film could leg out even with streaming windows shrinking.
Historical Context
To match 2013’s Man of Steel (opening $116.6 M, domestic total $291 M) and challenge 2016’s Batman v Superman (opening $166 M, domestic $330 M), Gunn’s outing must keep weekday drops below 60 %. Inflation‑adjusted, Man of Steel would equal roughly $142 M today, so anything above $120 M still marks a franchise renaissance. The Thursday‑preview record already beats the 1978 original by a factor of 10, showing how far the character’s box‑office pull has grown.
Weekend & Legs Forecast
Tracking services (NRG, TheWrap) see a $115‑$135 M 3‑day domestic finish; bullish models stretch to $145 M if Saturday family traffic over‑indexes. Word‑of‑mouth is strong, but competition arrives next week with Pixar’s Newt and Paramount’s Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Pt 2 re‑release. A multiplier near 3× would put Superman on course for $340‑$380 M domestic and a possible $900 M worldwide, elevating DC’s financial footing and validating Gunn’s soft reboot strategy.
