EXCLUSIVE: Good news for Warner Bros. Discovery, the theatrical release of James Gunn’s Superman seems to be driving audiences to familiarize themselves with more DC offerings.
Deadline understands that titles like Man of Steel, Superman: The Movie, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Peacemaker have all seen increased engagement on HBO Max since the latest film hit theaters on July 11.
Reeves’ first outing as the iconic superhero, Superman: The Movie, saw the biggest spike in viewership, up 332% week-over-week. But, Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel was actually the top performing Superman film on the streamer last week, up 218% versus the week prior.
The renewed interest in Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story was also quite impressive with a 1,206% lift week-over-week.
The DC series are also benefitting from the renewed buzz around Superman. Peacemaker saw a 91% increase in viewership last week for the first season — just in time for Season 2’s August debut.
Superman flew to a $220M global opening in theaters as of Monday, fueled by a big domestic turnout. In an interview with Deadline, Gunn explained he took a “lighter” approach to the DC Comics superhero that gets back to “the color and the joy” of his origins.
Since taking over DC Studios with Peter Safran in 2022, Gunn has been hard at work directing Superman, which kicks off his new DCU franchise with the ‘Gods and Monsters’ phase. Superman stars David Corenswet in the titular role. In addition to Rachel Brosnahan as Lois, the cast also includes Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor and María Gabriela de Faría as The Engineer, as well as Skyler Gisondo, Sara Sampaio, Sean Gunn, Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Isabel Merced and Nathan Fillion.
