Superman’s Been A Huge Box Office Success. How That Rubbed Off On Man Of Steel, Christopher Reeve's Superman And More

Before James Gunn’s DCU movie Superman was released in theaters, its box office would allegedly dictate how Warner Bros. would fare as a whole due to a string of the studio’s box office flops (no pressure or anything). Fortunately, the superhero flick has collected $581.1 million at the box office as of this writing and proved the Kryptonian hero really is a beacon of hope. Not only has the DCU figure rubbed off on box office numbers, but Zack Snyder's Man of Steel, Christopher Reeve’s Superman, and more have become a success on streaming.

One benefit of a major movie release is when top streaming services create themed collections of related films to occur at the same time as its debut. Your HBO Max subscription certainly did that by drawing Superman fans in with its movie collection.

After the summer theatrical release of James Gunn’s Superman, Deadline reported that other Superman movies received a huge surge in viewership. As Gunn’s approach to his DCU movie was in a lighter tone like Richard Donner’s take, it makes sense that fans would want to revisit Christopher Reeve’s introduction as Superman. It gained a 332% spike in viewership week-over-week.

Christopher Reeve’s Superman: The Movie was the most popular film of 1979, making $300 million worldwide. So, it's nice to see fans want to take a dig into the big-budget Superman classic that started it all.

And then there's Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which was the top-performing Superman movie on HBO Max after the James Gunn movie's release, with a 218% increase compared to the week before. While Snyder’s version is much darker than Richard Donner’s, it proves that fans of the caped hero want a taste of different interpretations of Superman’s legacy.

Not only did the Superman movies get a spike in streaming views, but so did other Man of Steel-related content. Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, the documentary about the Superman actor and what made him a real-life superhero, got an impressive 1,206% growth week-over-week. The DC series Peacemaker also benefited, with a 91% lift in viewership for Season 1. Since what we know about Peacemaker Season 2 is that it will take place after the 2025 movie release of Superman, the increase in its fan base is great timing for its August 21st debut.

As soon as 2025’s Superman soared into theaters, its box office revenue was what dreams were made of for the DCU and Warner Bros. The franchise had a great start at the weekend box office, scoring $122 million. Its second weekend in theaters earned the movie a big milestone of crossing $400 million globally. The James Gunn movie’s numbers even managed to surpass Marvel’s Thunderbolts* and DC’s Black Adam. With its current total of $581.1 million, Superman is the seventh-highest-grossing movie of the year.

While James Gunn has “just” confirmed a Superman sequel, there hasn’t been clarification on whether it’ll be a direct sequel to the summer box office hit or if the famed character will find its way in another DCU project. Whatever it is, it’s proof that the man who’s "faster than a speeding bullet" is needed to continue achieving wild numbers in theaters and streaming.

With Superman being a box office success and the DCU hero leading to a surge in streaming content, it’s clear the famed Man of Steel continues to reach audiences everywhere. This renewed interest in Superman shows that longtime fans and new ones are interested in Clark Kent's stories no matter what platform he flies to. Superman is still playing in theaters with other DCU-related content found on HBO Max.