James Gunn‘s Superman crossed the $200 million mark at the North American box office on Saturday after finishing Friday with a domestic haul of $194.4 million. And globally, its tally stands at $337.2 million as it prepares to leap past $400 million in worldwide ticket sales to become the top-grossing superhero pic of the year to date.
The DC Studios and Warner Bros. $225 million tentpole will have no trouble staying atop the chart in its sophomore outing and is trouncing new offerings, I Know What You Did Last Summer and Smurfs. The latter two films are reboots and are projected to open in the $12 million range domestically (luckily for them, it could have been worse). Like Superman, holdover Jurassic World Rebirth also remains a powerful competitor and is parked safely in second place as it heads for $275 million domestically.
All eyes are on Superman to see how well it holds up in its sophomore outing. It certainly has every chance of passing up the entire lifetime run of Marvel’s Thunderbolts*, which topped out at $383 million globally earlier this year, this weekend. Marvel’s other 2025 entry, Captain America: Brave New World, didn’t fare much better, grossing a meek $415 million worldwide.
Superman is projected to earn $56 million to $57 million domestically, which would be a 54 to 55 percent drop and put the film’s 10-day domestic total at $234 million through Sunday. That’s a relatively strong showing for a superhero pic and is the result of strong word of mouth, which saw the film do strong midweek business.
Marvel hopes to turn its fortunes around when Fantastic Four: First Steps hits theaters a week from now, on July 25. That gives Superman one week to itself, before facing direct competition. Both tentpoles are attempting to relaunch their respective franchises.
From Columbia and Screen Gems, the R-rated horror pic I Know What You Did Last Summer earned $5.8 million on Friday, including $2.2 million in Thursday previews. While Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprise their roles from the original films, the new installment otherwise introduces a host of newcomers to the series, including Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon and Gabbriette Bechtel.
Set three decades after the 1997 original film of the same name, the storyline — much as the first movie — follows a group of friends who try to cover up an accidental death for which they were responsible. Cut to a year later, when one of them receives a note containing the ominous titular message. Not long after, a killer armed with a metal hook and clad in a fisherman’s slicker and hat begins gruesomely killing them one by one. Soon, they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997, played by Hewitt and Prinze.
Critics haven’t exactly embraced the reboot, which currently has a 33 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences gave the film a C+ CinemaScore, meaning I Know What You Did Last Summer could be the latest victim of horror fatigue at the box office (so far, Superman is evading the same fatigue that has plagued the superhero genre).
Smurfs didn’t hold Thursday previews and officially opened everywhere Friday, earning $4 million. The animated family film likewise hasn’t impressed reviewers, but it did earn a B+ CinemaScore despite an all-star voice cast that includes Rihanna in her first turn as a Smurf. The voice cast also includes Nick Offerman, Natasha Lyonne, Sandra Oh, Alex Winter, Billie Lourd, Maya Erskine, John Goodman, Kurt Russell and Jimmy Kimmel.
Directed by Chris Miller, Smurfs is the first installment in the theatrical franchise in eight years. Thanks to Rihanna, who plays Smurfette, the movie is filled with dance and song. The story follows Smurfette leading a mission to save their leader that takes them into the real world, including Paris, Munich and the Australian Outback, where the Smurfs meet up with small, feathered, Minion-like creatures named Snooterpoots. Their leader is voiced by Lyonne.
Numbers will be updated Sunday.
July 19, 10:35 a.m.: Updated with revised estimates.
This story was originally published July 18 at 10:36 a.m.