‘Superman’ and DC Studios fly to a $122 million opening

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‘Superman’ and DC Studios fly to a $122 million opening

2025-07-14 01:11 Last Updated At：01:20

NEW YORK (AP) — In a bid to kickoff a new era for DC Studios, James Gunn’s “Superman” opened with $122 million in U.S. and Canada ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday.

DC and Warner Bros. had a lot riding on “Superman.” While the Walt Disney Co.’s Marvel Studios has had its own share of struggles, the superheroes of DC have recently found mostly kryptonite in theaters. Films like “Joker: Folie à Deux,” “The Flash” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” all flopped.

But “Superman,” written and directed by Gunn, is intended as a new start. It’s the first release fully steered by Gunn and Peter Safran, co-heads of DC Studios, since they were handed the keys to DC’s superhero cinematic universe.

And while Gunn turned “Guardians of the Galaxy” into a massive success for Marvel, his irreverent, idiosyncratic touch made the director — once a B-movie filmmaker with Troma Entertainment — an unlikely steward for one of the movies’ most bankable and beloved brands.

The roughly on-target opening was the third largest of 2025, and the first DC title to surpass $100 million in its opening weekend since “Wonder Woman” in 2017. Warner Bros. could also celebrate a unique hot streak: “Superman” is their fifth movie in a row to open over $45 million.

“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.”

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

David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe, called the international performance the only ding against the otherwise strong “Superman” debut.

“Thus far, the foreign openings are not equal to domestic," said Gross. "Superman has always been identified as a quintessentially American character and story, and in some parts of the world, America is currently not enjoying its greatest popularity.”

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.

In “Superman,” which cost about $225 million to make, Gunn steers the Man of Steel in a drastically different tonal direction than in previous iterations from filmmaker Zack Snyder. Skipping the Kansas origin story, the film instead picks up with Superman ( David Corenswet ) after his first defeat. Rachel Brosnahan plays Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult is Lex Luthor.

The “Superman” debut didn’t come close to besting the $166 million launch for Snyder’s “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” in 2016. But it did open higher, not accounting for inflation, than Snyder’s “Man of Steel.” That film debuted with $116 million in 2013.

But while Snyder’s films were often unloved by critics, largely good reviews greeted Gunn’s “Superman.” On Rotten Tomatoes, it scored 82% fresh — the best for the franchise since the first two movies with Christopher Reeve: “Superman” (1978) and “Superman II” (1980). Audiences gave it an “A-” CinemaScore.

“Superman” faced sizeable competition too. 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% 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.

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. The film, distributed by Warner Bros., has collected $393.4 million globally in three weeks. But it also carries a hefty price tag of roughly $250 million, plus at least $100 million in promotion.

With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

1. “Superman,” $122 million.

2. “Jurassic World Rebirth,” $40 million.

3. “F1: The Movie,” $13 million.

4. “How to Train Your Dragon,” $7.8 million.

5. “Elio,” $3.9 million.

6. “28 Years Later,” $2.7 million.

7. “Lilo & Stitch,” $2.7 million.

8. “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,” $1.5 million.

9. “M3gan 2.0,” $1.4 million.

10. “Materialists,” $720,498.

Anti-ICE protesters assemble across the US after shootings in Minneapolis and Portland, Oregon

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Thousands of people marched in Minneapolis Saturday to protest the fatal shooting of a woman by a federal immigration officer there and the shooting of two protesters in Portland, Oregon, as Minnesota leaders urged demonstrators to remain peaceful.

The Minneapolis gathering was one of hundreds of protests planned in towns and cities across the country over the weekend. It came in a city on edge since the killing of Renee Good on Wednesday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer.

“We’re all living in fear right now,” said Meghan Moore, a mother of two from Minneapolis who joined the protest Saturday. “ICE is creating an environment where nobody feels safe and that’s unacceptable.”

On Friday night, a protest outside a Minneapolis hotel that attracted about 1,000 people turned violent as demonstrators threw ice, snow and rocks at officers, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said Saturday. One officer suffered minor injuries after being struck with a piece of ice, O’Hara said. Twenty-nine people were cited and released, he said.

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey stressed that while most protests have been peaceful, those who cause damage to property or put others in danger will be arrested. He faulted “agitators that are trying to rile up large crowds.”

“This is what Donald Trump wants,” Frey said of the president who has demanded massive immigration enforcement efforts in several U.S. cities. “He wants us to take the bait.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz echoed the call for peace.

“Trump sent thousands of armed federal officers into our state, and it took just one day for them to kill someone,” Walz posted on social media. “Now he wants nothing more than to see chaos distract from that horrific action. Don’t give him what he wants.”

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says its deployment of immigration officers in the Twin Cities is its biggest ever immigration enforcement operation. Trump's administration has said both shootings were acts of self-defense against drivers who “weaponized” their vehicles to attack officers.

Connor Maloney said he was attending the Minneapolis protest to support his community and because he's frustrated with the immigration crackdown.

“Almost daily I see them harassing people,” he said. “It’s just sickening that it’s happening in our community around us.”

Steven Eubanks, 51, said he felt compelled to attend a protest in Durham, North Carolina, on Saturday because of the “horrifying” killing of Good in Minneapolis.

“We can’t allow it,” Eubanks said. “We have to stand up.”

Indivisible, a social movement organization that formed to resist the Trump administration, said hundreds of protests were scheduled in Texas, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Florida and other states.

In Minneapolis, a coalition of migrant rights groups organized the demonstration that began in a park about half a mile from the residential neighborhood where the 37-year-old Good was shot on Wednesday. Marchers carried signs calling for ICE to leave and voiced support for Good and immigrants.

A couple of miles away, just as the demonstration began, an Associated Press photographer witnessed heavily armed officers — at least one in Border Patrol uniform — approach a person who had been following them. Two of the agents had long guns out when they ordered the person to stop following them, telling him it was his “first and final warning.”

The agents eventually drove onto the interstate without detaining the driver.

Protests held in the neighborhood have been largely peaceful, in contrast to the violence that hit Minneapolis in the aftermath of the killing of George Floyd in 2020. Near the airport, some confrontations erupted on Thursday and Friday between smaller groups of protesters and officers guarding the federal building used as a base for the Twin Cities crackdown.

O’Hara said city police officers have responded to calls about cars abandoned because their drivers have been apprehended by immigration enforcement. In one case, the car was left in park and in another case a dog was left in the vehicle.

He said immigration enforcement activities are happening “all over the city” and that 911 callers have been alerting authorities to ICE activity, arrests and abandoned vehicles.

The Trump administration has deployed thousands of federal officers to Minnesota under a sweeping new crackdown tied in part to allegations of fraud involving Somali residents. More than 2,000 officers were taking part.

Some officers moved in after abruptly pulling out of Louisiana, where they were part of another operation that started last month and was expected to last until February.

Three congresswomen from Minnesota attempted to tour the ICE facility in the Minneapolis federal building on Saturday morning and were initially allowed to enter but then told they had to leave about 10 minutes later.

U.S, Reps. Ilhan Omar, Kelly Morrison and Angie Craig accused ICE agents of obstructing members of Congress from fulfilling their duty to oversee operations there.

“They do not care that they are violating federal law,” Craig said after being turned away.

A federal judge last month temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing policies that limit congressional visits to immigration facilities. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by 12 members of Congress who sued in Washington, D.C. to challenge ICE’s amended visitor policies after they were denied entry to detention facilities.

Associated Press writers Allen Breed in Durham, North Carolina, and Scott Bauer in Madison, Wisconsin, contributed.