James Gunn’s new live-actionDCuniverse took flight earlier this month withSuperman. The movie is more comic-accurate than previous iterations and features a more wholesome Superman, resulting in an overall positive reception. Whilethe movie grossed well in the US, international markets have not done too well, especially considering the production cost.
This isn’t something new when it comes to superhero movies, but according toGamesRadar, the difference is vast – it grossed about $236.2 million in the US and only $173.1 million internationally. As for why it hasn’t performed well abroad, director James Gunn thinks it’s because not many people know who Superman is.
James Gunn Thinks International Audiences Don’t Know Superman
It would be fair for Gunn to say the same about The Guardians of the Galaxy before the first movie, considering he doesn’t think they’re superheroes. But to think that people around the world don’t know one of, if not the most popular superhero of all time is a bit of a stretch.
“We’re definitely performing better domestically than we are internationally, but internationally is also rising and having really good weekday numbers in the same way we are,” said Gunn in an interview withThe Rolling Stone. “So obviously the word of mouth is very positive both here and everywhere else. Which is the thing that we needed to do the most. At the same time, there are certain countries in which it’s really performing well. Brazil and the U.K.
“Superman is not a known commodity in some places,” he continued. “He is not a big known superhero in some places like Batman is. That affects things. And it also affects things that we have a certain amount of anti-American sentiment around the world right now. It isn’t really helping us. So I think it’s just a matter of letting something grow.”
Sure, Batman is more popular than Supes, but almost anyone who knows what a superhero is knows who Superman is. This explanation would have made more sense if he was talking about Booster Gold, but this is big blue we’re talking about here, the symbol of all superheroes.
