There is no question that James Gunn’s Superman will be remembered as one of the biggest box office successes of 2025. Riding high on a wave of positive buzz and critical acclaim, the film made a huge splash when it debuted on the big screen in early July, and it earned over $600 million worldwide by the end of its theatrical run (it’s the third highest grossing blockbuster of the year domestically and seventh highest grossing globally). Clearly people are loving the David Corenswet-led superhero feature – so is it any surprise that it has become the most successful streaming launch on HBO Max since Barbie?
Superman was first made available for HBO Max subscribers 10 days ago, and in that time, it has held the focus of a hell of a lot of eyeballs. According to Variety, the blockbuster has been viewed in the arena of 13 million times, which is the best that a new film has done on the streaming platform since Barbie first landed in the library in late 2023.
The trade doesn’t offer any demographic breakdown of the numbers in regard to who is watching the movie, but there is surely a mix of people who saw Superman in theaters and have been anticipating the opportunity to see it again and folks who missed the blockbuster on the big screen but have been looking forward to see what the word of mouth has been hyping for the last three months.
Being the hot new release, Superman has gotten the most attention among users, but what’s also interesting is that the arrival of the DC Universe blockbuster has gotten people to engage with other Man of Steel content on the platform – including Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, which got a 40 percent viewing boost in the last 10 days. Also benefiting from a rising tide lifting all boats are Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (views up 120 percent), Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie (up 155 percent), and Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s 2024 documentary Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story (up a stunning 670 percent). This is actually the second time that this bump has happened this year.
As for Superman’s co-existence with Barbie, I actually wonder if the two movies might make for a sweet double feature. They are very different story-wise, but both are fun, bright, positive, intelligent blockbusters made in part as tributes to the legacies of two 20th century pop culture icons.