James Gunn Shuts Down $700 Million Box Office Expectations for SUPERMAN: “It’s Complete and Utter Nonsense”
James Gunn isn’t losing sleep over whether Superman cracks $700 million at the box office, and he wants you to stop thinking that’s the bar for success.
In a recent GQ interview centered on Superman star David Corenswet, Gunn dismissed the idea that his upcoming reboot needs to be a billion-dollar juggernaut to matter. He said:
“Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be. They hear these numbers that the movie’s only going to be successful if it makes $700 million or something and it’s just complete and utter nonsense. It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying.”
Superman is the foundation for everything that comes next, including the already-shot Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow film and new versions of Batman and Wonder Woman that are currently in development.
The stakes are real, especially in a post-Flash, post-Shazam 2 world where DC’s recent box office track record has been... less than super. Factor in Marvel’s ongoing struggles with Captain America: Brave New World underperforming and Thunderbolts* bleeding money despite positive reviews, and it's no wonder people are anxious about Superman’s box office potential.
But Gunn’s point isn’t that numbers don’t matter, it’s that they shouldn’t define the value of the story.
Back in 2023, Gunn told Rolling Stone that the problem isn’t just "superhero fatigue" it’s that the stories lost their soul.
“I think there is such a thing as superhero fatigue. I think it doesn’t have anything to do with superheroes. It has to do with the kind of stories that get to be told, and if you lose your eye on the ball, which is character.
“We love Superman. We love Batman. We love Iron Man. Because they’re these incredible characters that we have in our hearts. And if it becomes just a bunch of nonsense onscreen, it gets really boring.”
He doubled down on that idea during an episode of the Inside of You podcast, saying:
“People have gotten really lazy with their superhero stories. And they have gotten to the place where, ‘Oh, it’s a superhero, let’s make a movie about it.’ And then, ‘Oh, let’s make a sequel, because the first one did pretty well,’ and they aren’t thinking about, ‘Why is this story special?
“What makes this story stand apart from other stories? What is the story at the heart of it all? Why is this character important? What makes this story different that it fills a need for people in theaters to go see?’”
For Gunn, the character of Superman doesn’t exist to carry the weight of a studio’s quarterly earnings report. He’s here to inspire again, to reconnect with audiences on an emotional level. Whether Superman makes $400 million or $900 million, Gunn’s real metric of success is whether the story lands.