Many in the media are celebrating the $406 million James Gunn’s Superman has taken at the box office worldwide in its second week. However, most media outlets are underreporting how misleading these numbers are.
In its second weekend in theaters, Superman made an additional $57.3 million in domestic earnings, a sharp but expected 54 percent decline from the $125 million it took in during its debut. That brings its total in the U.S. to $236 million. Along with its foreign earnings, the current total to $406 million, according to Variety.
The box office take is being touted as a big win for Warners and DC Studios. The Hollywood Reporter for instance, hyped the box office as “a much-needed inaugural win for the Warner Bros.-owned DC Studios.”
Analysts have claimed that the film would have to make something north of $700 million to recoup its huge budget. Indeed, many in the entertainment media seem confident that with $400 million worldwide already reached, the film is zooming toward its beak even point.
But this sunny optimism may be a bit premature when taking into account that roughly half of the box office gross being reported for Superman in the first two weeks actually goes to the studio to recoup the film’s production and promotion costs. After all, theater operators get their share, too. Internationally, each jurisdiction, i.e. country, typically split revenue close to 50/50 in the first few weeks of a film’s release.
Warners reportedly has about a half-and-half deal with the exhibitors. They get about half the box office and the cinemas get the other half, depending on the agreement. So, all the hype that the film has earned $400 million is a bit misleading because Warners is only getting about half of that to recoup the film’s production and promotional costs.
Most reports peg Superman’s total budget at $350 million, $225 million production and $125 to promote it around the world. Others believe the figure is close to a $425 million total. The film would need to bring in $850 million to $1 billion worldwide (including international and domestic splits on a sliding scale week-to-week) to justify its massive cost to make. That ceiling doesn’t seem likely.
Looking at the raw gross in its first two weeks, Superman may not be close to the halfway point of earning back its production and advertising costs.
Also, Superman’s earning power will likely slow down or take a big hit next weekend when Marvel’s much-awaited The Fantastic Four: First Step debuts. Buzz is already good for Marvel’s Summer tent pole, kicking off its phase 6 of MCU films.
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