‘Superman’ soars to $122 million opening weekend

LOS ANGELES – “Superman” opened with $122 million this weekend to lead all films in North America, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

The latest big-screen saga of the Man of Steel stars relative newcomer David Corenswet in the title role, and was written and directed by James Gunn.

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The DC Studios production scored the third-biggest opening weekend of the year behind “A Minecraft Movie” ($162 million) and “Lilo & Stitch”

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows David Corenswet in a scene from “Superman.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

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“Jurassic World Rebirth” took in $40 million for second place, one week after its massive $147.3 million opening over the extended five-day July 4 weekend, Comscore reported.

“F1 The Movie” was third with $13 million Friday through Sunday in its third week in theaters.

“How to Train Your Dragon” grossed $7.8 million in its fifth week, followed by “Elio,” which grossed $3.9 million in its fourth week.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “28 Years Later” ($2.72 million), “Lilo & Stitch” ($2.7 million), “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning” ($1.45 million), “M3GAN 2.0” ($1.35 million) and “Materialists” ($720,498).

Ticket sales were relatively soft for “Superman” overseas. In 78 international markets, it grossed $95 million. In China, it collected just $6.6 million.

“Superman” is the first DC title to surpass $100 million in its opening weekend in North America since “Wonder Woman” in 2017.

“It’s quite a win for DC Studios,” said Jeffrey Goldstein, chief of distribution for Warner Bros. “We needed to get the trust of the fanbase, and we didn’t have it. They were clear to us that we needed to take a step back and reinvent ourselves.”

As an American icon, “Superman” also attracted political discourse at home. Some right-wing commentators criticized the movie as “woke” after Gunn described the superhero from Krypton as “an immigrant.”

On X, the White House posted an image of President Donald Trump as Superman.

Last week’s top film, “Jurassic World Rebirth,” slid to second place with $40 million. With “Superman” soaking up many large-format screens, Universal Pictures’ seventh “Jurassic” film slipped a steep 57 percent from its opening weekend.

Starring Scarlett Johansson, “Jurassic World Rebirth” got off to a thunderous $318.3 million global start. In two weeks, it’s amassed $529.5 million worldwide.

This image released by Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment shows Luna Blaise in a scene from ” Jurassic World: Rebirth.” (Jasin Boland/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment via AP)

Also still in the mix is Apple Studios’ biggest box-office success yet, “F1.” Joseph Kosinski’s Formula One action thriller, starring Brad Pitt, came in third with $13 million in its third weekend.

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