James Gunn claims “anti-American sentiment” has negatively effected ‘Superman’ internationally
James Gunn, the director of the new Superman movie, has claimed that the movie’s poorer international box office performance might be due to the “anti-American sentiment around the world.”
In an interview with Rolling Stone, Gunn discussed how the new movie was performing better domestically than internationally. Musing on why this might be, he said, “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.”
However, he believed another reason might explain the huge discrepancy. Gunn added, “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. So I think it’s just a matter of letting something grow.”
After its release on July 11th, Superman’s worldwide sales are currently at $426 million. However, this is mainly due to American sales, which are at $253 million. This does make it one of the most successful Superman blockbusters and one of the best efforts from DC Studios in recent memory. However, the lower numbers at the international box office are curious.
Nevertheless, Gunn wasn’t fazed by this new issue. “For us, everything’s been a total win. Having the movie come out and be something that has been embraced by people everywhere — this is just the seed of the tree that Peter and I have been watering for the past three years. So to be able to have it start off so positively has been incredibly overwhelming.”
Another problem internationally is a kiss scene in Superman that has been removed from screenings of the superhero blockbuster in India. The film originally featured a 33-second scene between Superman and Lois Lane in which they are seen kissing. However, the Central Board of Film Certification deemed this inappropriate for Indian audiences and cut it from the movie.
Additionally, there have been some negative comments in the USA. Superman has been criticised for being “woke”, according to actor Dean Cain, who played the superhero in the 1990s TV show Lois and Clarke: The New Adventures of Superman. He has since said that these comments were misconstrued, however.
Superman is in cinemas now.
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