Studios voice alarm after Supergirl underperforms at the box office

Warner Bros. and DC Studios are facing renewed scrutiny after *Supergirl* underperformed in its first two weeks in theaters. The film opened domestically on June 26 and had reached $103.8 million worldwide by July 7, according to The Numbers and Box Office Mojo. Those figures have fed a run of trade and fan-site coverage describing the movie as the first clear theatrical stumble of James Gunn and Peter Safran’s rebooted DC Universe. Peter Safran acknowledged the weak start in comments reported by Deadline on June 28. Deadline said the DC Studios co-chief remained “confident” in the broader DCU strategy even after *Supergirl* did not meet Warner Bros.’ “box office expectations.” ### How far below expectations did *Supergirl* land? *Supergirl* opened to $37.1 million domestically and $68 million globally, according to The Numbers, Box Office Mojo and ScreenRant’s July 2 and July 4 reports. (the-numbers.com) By July 7, domestic grosses stood at $60.4 million and international grosses at $43.4 million, for a worldwide total of $103.8 million. The Numbers lists a $170 million production budget for the Craig Gillespie-directed film. (deadline.com) That puts the movie’s worldwide theatrical gross at about 0.6 times production budget so far, based on The Numbers’ calculations. ### Why are outlets treating this as more than a routine miss? Variety reported last week that *Supergirl* was projected to finish with about $100 million domestically and $200 million to $210 million globally, which it said could translate into a theatrical loss of $100 million to $120 million, citing sources familiar with the economics of similar films. (the-numbers.com) ScreenRant reported on July 4 that the film was headed for one of the biggest second-weekend drops for a first-run superhero movie, citing a projected 76% decline. In a separate July 8 article, the outlet said the result revived a familiar DC concern: whether only *Superman* can consistently draw broad theatrical audiences. ### What does this mean for James Gunn’s DCU rollout? (variety.com) *Supergirl* is the second theatrical release in the rebooted DC Universe after 2025’s *Superman*. ScreenRant wrote on July 8 that Gunn’s first DCU “box office bomb” restored what it called a “Superman problem,” while ComicBook wrote on July 9 that the studio now needs to prioritize the right projects after *Supergirl’s* “box office failure.” Those are outside assessments, not statements from DC Studios. (screenrant.com) Safran’s public position has been more restrained. Deadline’s June 28 report said he remained confident in the DCU plan despite the miss, signaling that the studio was not publicly shifting strategy after one release. ### Is there evidence that audience momentum faded quickly? Box Office Mojo shows the film’s daily grosses falling from $18.4 million on opening Friday to $7.9 million on opening Sunday, then to $3.6 million on its second Friday. (screenrant.com) ScreenRant’s July 4 report said the second-weekend slide was severe enough to place the movie near the bottom of the modern superhero hold rankings. (deadline.com) ComicBook’s broader argument is that DC’s next choices now matter more because *Supergirl* did not extend the momentum created by *Superman*. ScreenRant made a similar case in a July 2 piece that pointed readers toward the next three DC movies as the path to recovery. ### What comes next for the box-office picture? (boxofficemojo.com) The Numbers and Box Office Mojo are still carrying *Supergirl* as an active release, with Warner Bros. listed as distributor and June 26, 2026 as the domestic release date. Those trackers will provide the next concrete read on whether the film can stabilize after its second weekend or continues tracking toward the lower end of current forecasts. (the-numbers.com) (comicbook.com)