Warner Bros.-DC’s new “Superman” reboot has a tough road ahead. At least, a small production detail uncovered by a local business outlet suggests as much.
The film, helmed by “Guardians of the Galaxy” director James Gunn, is set to launch an all-new cinematic universe featuring DC’s colorful cast of superhero characters.
Because the reboot recently began filming in Columbus, Ohio, the outlet Columbus Business First was able to access financial information filed with the state on behalf of Warner Bros.
More specifically, the movie studio filed for state tax credits.
To do so, it was forced to reveal the movie’s budget.
That budget is a monstrous $363.8 million.
“The film’s total eligible production expenditures for the Ohio Motion Picture Tax Credit were nearly $37 million, or a little more than 10% of the film’s total budget of more than $363.8 million,” Columbus Business First reported on Feb. 25.
One of the biggest lessons Hollywood learned in 2023 was that bloated-budget blockbusters are no longer a safe bet, as one industry expert explained in January.
“The number of big-budget movies in 2023 that didn’t make money felt like an all-time high. Consumer interest in moviegoing has been permanently altered,” Wall Street analyst Rich Greenfield told The Hollywood Reporter.
Are you planning on seeing the new “Superman” reboot?
“The question is, can theaters survive another horrific year?”
2023 was absolutely jam-packed with blockbusters that failed not because they couldn’t bring in revenue, but because their budgets were so high, placing the barrier for success far beyond current theatrical demand.
Some of the biggest flops from this past year boasted insanely high $250 million budgets.
James Gunn’s “Superman” reboot, as mentioned above, boasts a much higher $363.8 million.
Given the 2.5 times rule (it is generally accepted that to reach a break-even point, a movie needs to make 2.5 times its budget to account for marketing costs and splits with theater chains), “Superman” would need to make a staggering $909.5 million at the worldwide box office just to break even.
At that budget, the film would likely need to make well over $1 billion to be considered a success.
That’s a tall order, considering few films hit the $1 billion mark these days.
In 2023, only two films passed that mark — “Barbie” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.”
