James Gunn has explained that negative feelings toward the US may be the reason why Superman is performing better in America than it is worldwide.
The first film in the revamped DC Universe is an undoubted box office hit, currently standing at $426million (£314million) worldwide gross according to The Numbers. However, the majority of that, around $253million (£187million), has come from American audiences.
Modern blockbusters would expect international sales to be the same if not more than domestic, so the question was put to Gunn as to what is behind the split.
“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,” he told 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 UK.”
He would then explain that cultural differences, as well as the reputation of the US worldwide, may make the famous superhero less attractive. “Superman is not a known commodity in some places. He is not a big known superhero in some places like Batman is” he said.
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“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”.
He did, however, remain optimistic. “I think it’s just a matter of letting something grow. But again, for us, everything’s been a total win. 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 (Safran, DC co-CEO) 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”.
This isn’t the first time this year that anti-American sentiment was thought to hinder a Hollywood blockbuster. In February, fans of the Chinese blockbuster Ne Zha 2 declared “war” on Captain America: Brave New World during its release in the country, with one fan criticising the movie by saying: “In reality, the US does not have superheroes and the US is not a peace-loving, peace-defending beacon for humanity”.
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