DC Universe launchpad Superman director James Gunn believes that the international box office results of the movie will be affected by the superhero’s geopolitical context.
Gunn’s statement comes amidst Superman's success both critically and financially, setting the stage for next year's Supergirl.
The movie is praised for its rich and colourful aesthetics, stellar cast, and the audacity to speak on political parallels.
The anti-American sentiments and woke messaging in Superman can impact the movie’s overseas performance, according to Gunn.
Recently, speaking with Rolling Stone, Gunn highlighted the movie’s overall performance.
“We’re definitely performing better domestically than we are internationally,” he noted, “but internationally is also rising and having really good weekday numbers in the same way we are. 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.”
The DC Studios head said that at the same time, the movie is performing really well in certain countries, Brazil and the U.K., he mentioned.
“Superman is not a known commodity in some places,” Gunn said. “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.”
The director noted that this fact isn’t helping in any way, so they are just letting it grow. Nevertheless, the movie is a “total win” for them.
“Having the movie come out and be something that has been embraced by people everywhere, this is just the seed of the tree that Peter and I have been watering for the past three years. So to be able to have it start off so positively has been incredibly overwhelming,” Gunn concluded.
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