{"id":1252122,"date":"2026-03-01T10:11:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=612831"},"modified":"2026-03-01T10:11:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T10:11:08","slug":"james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Superman<\/a><\/em> is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe<\/a> with the second best opening of his career, and the best ever for a solo Superman movie.<\/p>\n

According to Deadline, Superman<\/em> made $123 million in the U.S.<\/a> over its opening weekend, and a further $95 million internationally for a total worldwide box office of $217 million<\/a>. That makes it the third-biggest movie opening of the year, behind A Minecraft Movie<\/em> and Jurassic World Rebirth<\/em> \u2014 and well ahead of Marvel Studios\u2019 Captain America: Brave New World<\/em> and Thunderbolts*<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a new record for a solo Superman movie, just ahead of Zack Snyder\u2019s Man of Steel<\/em> starring Henry Cavill, which opened to $116 million in 2013. But Snyder\u2019s double-header Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice<\/em> beats it \u2014 that film had a massive $166 million opening back in 2016. For Gunn, it\u2019s his second best opening behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2<\/em>, which did $146.5 million in 2017.<\/p>\n

Superman<\/em>\u2019s box office success seems to have been powered by positive sentiment and word of mouth. Despite some political controversy around Gunn\u2019s provocative framing of Superman<\/em> as an immigrant story, audiences and critics seem to agree that he nailed it. The movie\u2019s Rotten Tomatoes score from critics is 83% fresh<\/a>, and it has a solid if unspectacular score of 68 on Metacritic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, moviegoers are really loving it. Superman<\/em> has an A- CinemaScore and 93% on Rotten Tomatoes\u2019 audience-powered Popcornometer. It even has a strong rating of 4.0 on the hardcore cinephiles\u2019 network Letterboxd<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Much was riding on the success of Superman<\/em>, a high-stakes relaunch of the floundering DC Universe for studio Warner Bros. (It\u2019s also arguably an important moment for superhero movies as a whole, which have had a wobbly few years<\/a>.) Warner CEO David Zaslav installed Gunn and producer Peter Safran as co-heads of the new DC Studios, and Gunn opted to launch the effort with his own take on Superman \u2014 an iconic character, but one that\u2019s notoriously tricky to get right on film.<\/p>\n

According to a Wall Street Journal report<\/a>, the movie\u2019s $225 million budget, while hardly small, was kept under control by avoiding starry casting. Warner Bros. is said to want the movie to gross a relatively modest $500 million worldwide \u2014 which, on the basis of this opening weekend, is easily within reach. Zaslav has said that DC Studios \u201ccould and should be a game changer\u201d for the studio, so he\u2019ll be pleased with the result.<\/p>\n

For his part, Gunn took to Threads<\/a> to express his thanks for fans\u2019 support. \u201cI’m incredibly grateful for your enthusiasm and kind words over the past few days,\u201d he posted. \u201cWe’ve had a lot of \u2018Super\u2019 in Superman over the years, and I’m happy to have made a movie that focuses on the \u2018man\u2019 part of the equation \u2014 a kind person always looking out for those in need. That that resonates so powerfully with so many people across the world is in itself a hopeful testament to the kindness and quality of human beings. Thank you. \u2764\ufe0f\u201c<\/p>\n

\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Superman is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe with the second best opening of his career, and the best ever for a solo Superman movie. According to Deadline, Superman made $123 million in the U.S. over its opening weekend, and a further $95 million internationally for a total worldwide box office of $217 million. That makes it the third-biggest movie opening of the year, behind A Minecraft Movie and Jurassic World Rebirth \u2014 and well ahead of Marvel Studios\u2019 Captain America: Brave New World and Thunderbolts*. It\u2019s a new record for a solo Superman movie, just ahead of Zack Snyder\u2019s Man of Steel starring Henry Cavill, which opened to $116 million in…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1252123,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1252122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nJames Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Superman is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe with the second best opening of his career, and\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever | Arcader News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Superman is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe with the second best opening of his career, and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-01T10:11:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"252\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Arcade News\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"headline\":\"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-01T10:11:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":527,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Polygon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/\",\"name\":\"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever | Arcader News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-01T10:11:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\"},\"description\":\"Superman is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe with the second best opening of his career, and\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/07\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg\",\"width\":480,\"height\":252,\"caption\":\"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"description\":\"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839\",\"name\":\"Arcade News\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Arcade News\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cricketgames.tv\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/arcader.org\\\/news\\\/author\\\/arcade-news\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever | Arcader News","description":"Superman is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe with the second best opening of his career, and","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever | Arcader News","og_description":"Superman is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe with the second best opening of his career, and","og_url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/","og_site_name":"Arcade News","article_published_time":"2026-03-01T10:11:08+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":252,"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Arcade News","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Arcade News","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/"},"author":{"name":"Arcade News","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"headline":"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever","datePublished":"2026-03-01T10:11:08+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/"},"wordCount":527,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg","articleSection":["Polygon"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/","name":"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever | Arcader News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-01T10:11:08+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839"},"description":"Superman is off to a great start at the box office. James Gunn kicked off his reboot of the DC Universe with the second best opening of his career, and","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever.jpg","width":480,"height":252,"caption":"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/james-gunn-kicks-off-his-dcu-with-the-biggest-solo-superman-movie-opening-ever\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"James Gunn kicks off his DCU with the biggest solo Superman movie opening ever"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/","name":"Arcade News","description":"Free Arcade News from the Best Online Sources","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/8460f5e5076b52fb2369f2f7ce6f2839","name":"Arcade News","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/3fea48a614d86edd987bc7bb25f4707c69546d4b1f78ad4aa20b26316bad1f9d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Arcade News"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/cricketgames.tv"],"url":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/author\/arcade-news\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252122","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1252122"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1514007,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1252122\/revisions\/1514007"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1252123"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1252122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1252122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1252122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}