Things Have Gone From Bad To Worse For Supergirl At The Box Office
It's not going well for Warner Bros. and DC's "Supergirl," which flopped on its opening weekend at the box office. While there was little hope that the pricey comic book blockbuster would rebound over the Fourth of July weekend, any hope has now been firmly extinguished. Things have officially gone from bad to worse for this one.
On its second weekend in theaters, "Supergirl" made just $9.6 million domestically, dropping a whopping 74% compared to its already hugely disappointing $37.1 million opening. DC's latest also added just $9.4 million overseas. All told, the movie has made $58.5 million in North America to go with $42 million internationally for a dismal running total of $100.5 million worldwide. "Supergirl" carries a $170 million budget and needs to make closer to $400 million to be a success. Safe to say, it's not going to get anywhere near that.
Starring Milly Alcock ("House of the Dragon") in the title role and directed by Craig Gillespie ("Dumb Money"), "Supergirl" is going to lose a lot of money for Warner Bros. Just how much are we talking? Well, "Joker: Folie a Deux" lost an estimated $150 million to $200 million at the box office. That doesn't account for post-theatrical revenue, but that ill-fated sequel cost around $200 million to produce and topped out at $207.5 million worldwide. At this stage, "Supergirl" most likely won't clear $200 million globally. The losses are going to be substantial.
The movie centers on Kara Zor-El, aka Supergirl (Alcock), who reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion on an epic, interstellar journey of vengeance and justice as they both pursue the villainous Krem (Matthias Schoenaerts). Former "Aquaman" star Jason Momoa also appears as the villain Lobo.
Supergirl is going to be one of the biggest superhero bombs ever
DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran are in the midst of trying to launch an ambitious new DC Universe. Gunn's "Superman" was the biggest comic book movie at the box office in 2025, taking in $618 million worldwide. Nobody expected "Supergirl" to match that number, but the hope was that it would do respectable business. Unfortunately, mixed reviews and a variety of other factors, including very stiff competition from the likes of "Toy Story 5," led to a historic crash and burn within the superhero genre.
It looks like "Supergirl" is going to join the ranks of some of the biggest comic book movie misfires. "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" was one of the biggest bombs in superhero movie history, taking in just $134 million worldwide on a $125 million budget. There's also "The Marvels," which finished its run as the lowest-grossing MCU movie ever, grossing just $206 million worldwide, though its budget was well north of $200 million. "Supergirl" is performing on par with 2015's "Fantastic Four," which became Marvel's most impactful bomb ever with $168 million worldwide on a $120 million budget. Sad to say, it really is that bad.
More than anything, this is yet another reminder that the age of presumed superhero movie dominance is good and truly behind us. Neither Marvel or DC has been able to launch any successful new franchises that have generated sequels in the 2020s yet. A-listers like "Spider-Man" and "Batman" are okay. Everything else? It's up in the air at best. What this means for the future of DC Studios remains to be seen, but the pressure is now on for "Clayface" and "Man of Tomorrow" to deliver the goods.
"Supergirl" is in theaters now.