Superman flies up, up and away with $21 million in Thursday previews
People want to believe a man can fly again, as Superman is starting with an early lead against a speeding bullet in this week’s early showings. James Gunn’s Superman finally hits the big screens after a couple of years of production coverage on this site. The payoff didn’t land completely clean with our Chris Bumbray as his reaction was not as positive as he was hoping for. In his review, he says, “I’ll give him credit: he takes a big swing and delivers a radically different take on the character. But for me, the movie gets bogged down in spectacle and completely lacks the warmth, humanity, and emotional depth that Superman needs in order to resonate with modern viewers the way he once did for past generations.”
The rest of the movie-going audience is connecting much better with Superman as Rotten Tomatoes shows an audience score of 95%. Deadline is reporting that its sources have calculated the DCU film’s early Thursday box office totals have taken off with $21 million in previews. This total also includes the special Tuesday night Amazon Prime members screenings that already brought in $2.8 million. This early total is a record best for James Gunn, whose previous highest was Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s early previews, which came in at $17.5 million and finished the weekend with $118.4 million.
Superman also opens with the biggest early Thursday total of the year. The records were formerly held by Disney’s Lilo & Stitch, which was $14.5 million, and Captain America: Brave New World, which brought in $12 million. For our predictions for this weekend’s box office, based on pre-sales and general interest, a $100 million debut is pretty much guaranteed at this point. The number that our Chris Bumbray settled on is about $100 – 110 million.
While our EIC didn’t glow about the film, we now have a second opinion with our Tyler Nichols enjoying the film much more and saying, “Despite being an alien, he’s presented more human and grounded than we’ve seen in years. It reminded me of my favorite story, All-Star Superman, and made me very excited for the future of the DCU. Superman doesn’t nail every aspect, but I’m not sure you could have asked for a better start.” You can check out his review HERE.
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