Netflix CEO may have exposed the truth that WB has been hiding about James Gunn's Superman ever since its theatrical release.
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Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos has revealed one truth about James Gunn‘s Superman that Warner Bros. and DC Studios have been apparently hiding. It was clear from the box office run of the movie that it did not match up to the expectations of fans. According to Box Office Mojo, the movie just earned $616.8 million against a massive $200 million+ budget.
WB has been telling us for a long time that Superman was a success in theaters. Variety earlier reported that the movie generated $125 million in profits for WB. However, Sarandos just confirmed during a US Senate hearing on the Warner Bros/Netflix deal that Superman underperformed at the box office.
Sarandos shared that the streaming window of movies depended on the performance of the movie in theaters. He revealed that it was the reason why Superman‘s theatrical run was cut short, but Sinners had a longer run at the theaters.
Ted Sarandos just testified under oath at the US Senate hearing on the Warner Bros/Netflix deal that #Superman 2025 underperformed, and that's why its theatrical run was cut short, as opposed to an overperforming movie like Sinners.
As official as it can get, folks. 💫 pic.twitter.com/FTdIUtjnUp
— •The Last PhotoMax• (@SupesBatsy) February 3, 2026
Sarandos’s comments also raised concerns about the future of DCU under the new regime. WB had greenlit a sequel to Superman in addition to the several projects being developed at the studio. Gunn confirmed a sequel in September 2025 during a phone-in conversation with Howard Stern.
He shared that Nicholas Hoult’s Lex Luthor and David Corenswet‘s Superman would team up against a bigger threat in Superman: Man of Tomorrow. He shared, “It is a story about Lex Luthor and Superman having to work together to a certain degree against a much, much bigger threat.”
James Gunn’s Superman Box Office Explained
James Gunn’s Superman, the first theatrical movie from the DCU, did not meet the box office predictions. When it was announced, the movie was expected to easily cross the billion-dollar mark, but it only managed to surpass the $600 million mark. It didn’t even perform as well as Zack Snyder’s first DCEU movie, Man of Steel.
Henry Cavill’s movie earned a total of $670,145,518 (via Box Office Mojo). While the box office numbers seem comparable, some fan accounts made some calculations that would put matters into perspective. According to @gunnverse on IG, the average ticket price in the U.S. in 2013 was $8.13 as opposed to the current value of $16.08.
It meant that Cavill’s movie sold 82,428,723 tickets, while Corenswet’s sold 38,351,023. Man of Steel sold more than double the tickets that Superman sold during its June 2025 release. Moreover, several estimates have put the inflation-adjusted box office numbers of Cavill’s movie at $798.2 million (via Fortress of Solitude).
However, fans argued that the dip in the box office numbers for Gunn’s movie was due to superhero fatigue. They further claimed that Superman managed to beat other Marvel superhero movies at the box office this year. Moreover, it only saw a 54% drop in the second week, which was not bad compared to its Marvel counterparts this year (via Forbes).
Will James Gunn Get Fired After Netflix-WB Deal?
Ever since Netflix announced the deal to acquire Warner Bros., fans have been discussing the return of Henry Cavill as Superman. Fans believed that Netflix might favor Snyder and Cavill due to their long-standing relationship with the streamer. However, it probably won’t happen.
According to recent reports, the WB shareholders unanimously backed the Netflix bid, since the terms of the deal were more agreeable (via Variety). These terms allegedly include retaining James Gunn and others. According to YouTuber John Campea, Netflix intends to keep the DC CEOs, Gunn and Peter Safran, as well as the heads of WB films, Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy.
He reported that the streamer agreed upon a structure as part of the sale, which aims to continue the current operations. Netflix shared that it would “maintain Warner Bros.’ current operations and build on its strengths, including theatrical releases for films” (via BBC). Campea also claimed that Netflix wouldn’t announce anything negative this early in the acquisition, like Gunn’s exit.
According to THR, Warner Bros. Discovery plans to pay $38.7 million in retention bonuses to top executives to keep them from leaving. It all suggests that Gunn is safe for now. Interestingly, during a recent interview with Bloomberg, Gunn’s co-CEO, Peter Safran, claimed that they were “irreplaceable” at the top of the studio.
The DCU chief also claimed that they are staying on course after the success of Superman and are not changing their plans. It was also revealed during the interview that WB had extended their contracts until Spring 2027 for the time being.
What do you think of Ted Sarandos’s latest comments on Superman‘s box office? Let us know in the comments below!
Gunn’s movie is now available for streaming on HBO Max.
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