With $217 million in ticket sales, ‘Superman’ helps save Warner Bros., too

LOS ANGELES – It’s an old Hollywood adage: Even the most down-on-its-luck studio is “just one hit away” from redemption.

What about five hits?

After one of the worst box office runs in Warner Bros.’ 102-year history – setting off frenzied speculation about the firing of senior studio leaders – the studio suddenly found a colossal hit in April (“A Minecraft Movie,” now nearing $1 billion in global ticket sales). Three more blockbusters followed in quick succession (“Sinners,” “Final Destination: Bloodlines,” “F1: The Movie”).

Warner Bros. delivered its fifth consecutive No. 1 movie over the weekend. “Superman,” which received strong reviews, will take in roughly $122 million in theaters in North America from Thursday through Sunday, analysts estimated. The film – a high-risk effort to reboot DC Studios, Warner’s long-floundering superhero division – was on track to sell another $95 million in tickets overseas.

“A hell of a run,” David Zaslav, CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery, said in a phone interview. “We’re organized, and we’re on the attack.”

Zaslav lavished praise on James Gunn, who directed and wrote “Superman.” Gunn also runs DC Studios with Peter Safran. “Our biggest strategic opportunity was that DC was underdeveloped,” he said. “Now we have Gunn and Safran firing with a 10-year plan. ‘Supergirl’ has already been shot. They’re working on Wonder Woman. They’re working on Batman.”

In March, Warner Bros. was languishing in last place among the major Hollywood studios in terms of domestic box office market share, according to the Numbers, a box office database. Warner Bros. is expected to have taken in roughly $1.2 billion in the United States and Canada so far this year, up 50% from the same period in 2024. (Disney is at $1.26 billion.)

Film industry veterans said they could not recall another example of a studio going from gloom to boom so quickly and forcefully.

“I’ve analyzed the box office for over 32 years, and it’s hard to think of a comeback story that beats this one,” said Paul Dergarabedian, a senior media analyst at Comscore, which compiles ticketing data. “They went from zero to 100 in like five seconds.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.