Can ‘Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero’ beat ‘Broly’ at the box office?

Despite having a rocky start in Japan, Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero seems to have overcome it with its recent US release. Yet, can it triumph over its precursor, Dragon Ball Super: Broly?

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero film was released in theaters in the US and Canada on August 19, 2022. In the US, the movie garnered around $10 million on its opening day.

Dragon Ball Super: Broly, the franchise’s last movie, earned around the same amount during its US opening weekend back in 2018.

Broly is the highest-grossing movie in the entire franchise, and DBS: Super Hero is starting to catch up to the heights. If you were to compare them fairly, Broly still holds the upper hand as it had a budget of $8.5 million, while Super Hero boasts an astounding budget of $36 million.

Given that Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is released four years after its previous installment, it ought to have caught more attention.

If one were to compare the film’s earnings in Japan, the difference is even more clear. Dragon Ball Super: Broly earned $9.26 million on its debut weekend, while Super Hero got stuck at just $4.98 million.

Although Super Hero has earned $21 million more in US  box offices on its first weekend, I await to see its further progression.

So why exactly is the latest film suffering despite the CGI-heavy animation? The answer might be just that. A lot of anime fans aren’t used to 3D CG animation, thus making it uncomfortable to watch.

Another reason might be the stark absence of Goku. Some neglected characters like Piccolo have received more attention, but are we really ready to let go of Goku yet?

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is definitely a nostalgic watch, but maybe it isn’t enough to satisfy our Goku cravings.

About Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero is the twenty first film in the Dragon Ball series. It is a computer-animated martial arts fantasy/adventure film, directed by Tetsuro Kodama, produced by Toei Animation and written by Dragon Ball series creator Akira Toriyama.

It features successors of the Red Ribbon Army who were once destroyed by Goku. Now they have returned with androids, Gamma 1 and Gamma 2, to take revenge on the Saiyan.

Source: Variety

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