Brightburn

The film was announced in December 2017, then untitled, with James Gunn as a producer, his brother Brian and cousin Mark writing the script, and David Yarovesky directing.[3]

Gunn had been set to appear on a panel to discuss the project at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2018, but his appearance was canceled after news broke that Disney had fired Gunn as director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 due to offensive tweets.[4]

In March 2018, Elizabeth Banks, David Denman, Jackson A. Dunn, Meredith Hagner and Matt Jones were cast.[5]

Principal photography began in March 2018 and wrapped in May of the same year in the U.S. state of Georgia.[6]

The building collapse was filmed in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It was the real demolition of The Sir John Carling Building on July 13, 2014. The stock footage was shot by filmmaker Chris Chitaroni. The middle school scenes were shot at the now-defunct Patrick Henry High School in Stockbridge, Georgia. It is the same location used for both Hawkins Middle and Hawkins High Schools in seasons 1 and 2 of Stranger Things (2016).

Timothy Williams composed the film score. The soundtrack is now released at Sony Classical.

There were plans to promote the film at the 2018 San Diego Comic-Con in July, but it was pulled at the last minute in the wake of James Gunn's removal from Walt Disney Studios and Marvel Studios,[7] only for Disney and Marvel to reconcile with Gunn nine months later.[8] On December 8, 2018, the first trailer for Brightburn was released online.

Critics viewed the trailer as an "Ultraman horror movie" due to the intentional similarities to Superman's origin story and as a deconstruction of the character.[9][10] Fast Company stated that "although it's not officially a Superman movie, it walks viewers through every step of Clark Kent's origin story before taking a hard left turn".[11][12]

On April 3, 2019, an art contest was launched after the release of the trailer to promote the film, and had concluded on May 20. The winners of the contest had their artworks used in marketing for the film, and received $2,000.[13] On May 21, 2019, IGN promoted the film by uploading a prank of unsuspecting volunteers with the character Brandon Breyer. It was uploaded to their website and YouTube channel.[14][15]

Another art contest was launched on August 5 to promote the home media release of the film titled "Band with Brightburn". Submissions had to depict other supervillains in reference to the ending scene of the film hinting at other superpowered characters. Actor Jackson A. Dunn was the judge of the contest, and it was sponsored by Collider.[16]

Brightburn was released in the United States on May 24, 2019.[4][17] It was originally scheduled for November 30, 2018.[18]

The film was released on Digital HD on August 6, 2019 and on DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K Ultra HD on August 20, 2019.[19]

In August 2019, it was announced a Halloween costume of Brandon Breyer was going to be sold exclusively by Spirit Halloween in October.[20]

Brightburn grossed $17.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $15.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $32.8 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, Brightburn was released alongside Aladdin and Booksmart, and was projected to gross around $12–16 million from 2,607 theaters in its four-day opening weekend.[21] The film made $3 million on its first day, including $950,000 from Thursday night previews.[22] It ended up underperforming, grossing $7.8 million over three days (and $9.6 million over the four), finishing in fifth.[1] In its second weekend the film made $2.3 million, dropping 70.5% and finishing in ninth.[23]

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 58% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 5.7/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Although Brightburn doesn't fully deliver on the pitch-black promise of its setup, it's still enough to offer a diverting subversion of the superhero genre."[24] On Metacritic the film has a weighted average score of 44 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[25] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it 2.5 out of 5 stars and a "definite recommend" of 39%.[1][22]

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "While not exactly original, the premise is certainly effective enough. But Brightburn lacks the visual stylization or wit to elevate it from the realm of the crudely effective B-movie."[26] James White from Empire wrote, "Crossbreeding superhero tropes with horror staples was an idea laden with promise. Brightburn is enlivened by trademark James Gunn black comedy, but hamstrung by sketchy writing and a botched sense of dread."[27]

Alex Arabian from The Playlist wrote, "The film is a gem, especially for anyone yearning for a superhero film that gleefully torches the familiar 'good versus evil' formula and introduces far more sinister sensibilities."[28] Richard Whittaker of The Austin Chronicle wrote, "It may be an elevator pitch stretched to 90 minutes, and never aspires to more than that, but it's a fine and distinct funhouse ride designed to elicit cackles, then be forgotten about by the next ride."

In a negative review, Lindsey Bahr of Associated Press wrote, "Brightburn was a good idea. Unfortunately the creativity stopped there." Ed Gonzalez from Slant also gave a negative review, "The way the film shuttles through its 90 minutes, it’s as if it’s been stripped of its most crucial narrative parts."[29]