Director, James Gunn, Blames Superman’s Underperformance Globally On “Anti-American Sentiment,” Not What He Said Directly Before Its Release

With Superman not exactly soaring globally, director James Gunn is trying to figure out where to place the blame.

The DC Comic Book Universe got a reboot when Superman hit theaters on July 11. It’s the first movie in what is being hailed as the “James Gunn Era” of DC. You might be familiar with that name, since he directed a couple of stellar Marvel movies… most notably the entire Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy.

DC snatched him away from Marvel though, and he’s now the Co-CEO of DC Studios.

And in his first act as co-CEO, he directed the newest rendition of one of the oldest and most beloved superheroes in the world: Superman. Starring David Corenswet as Superman, Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, and Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, the comic book story returned to the big screen inhopes of moving DC back in the right direction.

It was highly anticipated and was projected to be a summer blockbuster hit… but after it’s underperformed a bit in it’s first couple of weeks in theaters, many are blaming the fact that James Gunn compared the latest Superman film to politics and immigration in an interview leading up to the film’s release:

“I mean, ‘Superman’ is the story of America. An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.”

While I understand where James Gunn is coming from there, and Superman is technically from another planet, but we’ve seen a lot of examples recently of films being burdened by words an actor or director has said just before its release. Captain America: Brave New World underperformed at the box office after star Anthony Mackie said Captain America doesn’t represent America.

And do I even have to rehash the whole Snow White thing? No? Okay, good deal…

Director James Gunn insisted in that interview that it’s not a beat-your-head-in-with-politics type of message. Instead, he set out to make a film that showcases the power of caring for others and having human decency… and he’s very aware of how that will come off to some people:

“Yes, it plays differently, but it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them. Yes, it’s about politics. But on another level it’s about morality.”

As I mentioned earlier, Superman is just a tad behind box office expectations at the moment. Domestically, it’s made over $250 million, so there’s no complaining from DC Studios there. But it’s in the movie’s global box office return that’s causing some concern. Just a couple of days ago, the newest DC film had only brought in $173 million globally.

The global box office numbers have Superman projected to finish underneath the traditional $800 million goal that most larger studios shoot for to break even. And James Gunn is blaming the under-performance outside of the United States on a) Superman not being as well known (what?) and b) the anti-American sentiment that’s more present now:

“Superman is not a known commodity in some places. He is not a big known superhero in some places like Batman is. 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.”

I’ve never heard someone say that Superman isn’t a “known commodity.” And sure, there are some political things happening in America right now that might be looked down upon across the world, but aren’t movies made so that people can escape reality for a couple of hours? If you just make a film that allows for that, then anti-American sentiment would have nothing to do with it.

I mean, Lilo & Stitch is crushing it…The post Director, James Gunn, Blames Superman’s Underperformance Globally On “Anti-American Sentiment,” Not What He Said Directly Before Its Release first appeared on Whiskey Riff.