Supergirl Opens Soft as DC Studios Faces Its First Big Box Office Test

A $38 Million Start Puts Pressure on the New DC Plan

Supergirl opened in second place at the domestic box office with $38 million from U.S. and Canadian theaters, giving DC Studios a rougher result than it wanted for one of its key early releases in the rebuilt DC movie universe.

The film also earned about $30 million overseas, bringing its opening global total to roughly $68 million. That is not a total collapse. But for a major superhero release with a reported production budget around $170 million, it is a weak start.

The problem is simple. Big superhero films are not judged like small dramas. They need strong openings, long legs, and global reach. Supergirl now has to fight for all three.

The movie stars Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, also known as Supergirl. She was introduced to movie audiences through the new DC universe after Superman, which was the first major film release under DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran. Superman performed much better, opening to $125 million domestically and eventually reaching about $618 million worldwide.

That is why this weekend matters. Supergirl was not just another comic-book movie. It was a test of whether audiences would follow the new DC plan beyond Superman himself.

So far, the answer is mixed.

Toy Story 5 Took the Weekend

The biggest problem for Supergirl was not only its own opening. It was the competition.

Toy Story 5 stayed at No. 1 with about $70 million domestically in its second weekend. The Pixar film has already built a huge global total, reaching about $585 million worldwide after two weeks. It is now one of the year’s strongest commercial performers.

That put Supergirl in a tough position. Family audiences were already locked into a massive animated franchise. Casual moviegoers had a safer, familiar choice. And superhero fans were being asked to show up for a character who has not had a major solo big-screen hit in decades.

That is a hard sell.

The result: Supergirl landed behind Toy Story 5 and below earlier expectations, which had placed the movie closer to the $50 million to $55 million range domestically.

Why the Opening Looks Soft

The opening is not bad because $38 million is a small number in normal business. It is bad because the math for a superhero movie is different.

A film this size has to cover production costs, marketing costs, distribution costs, and theater splits. It also has to prove that the franchise is building momentum.

Here is the clean version:

• Domestic opening: about $38 million
• International opening: about $30 million
• Global opening: about $68 million
• Reported production budget: about $170 million
• Main competition: Toy Story 5, which stayed dominant
• Audience signal: softer than DC needed for a major franchise entry

That does not mean the movie is finished. Some films recover after opening weekend. But superhero movies usually need a strong start because fan demand is front-loaded. The biggest supporters often show up early. If the first weekend is soft, the second weekend becomes critical.

Reviews and Audience Reaction Did Not Help

Reports said Supergirl received mixed-to-poor marks from critics and audiences. AP reported a 56% Rotten Tomatoes score and a B- CinemaScore. Those are not the kind of numbers that create strong word of mouth.

Word of mouth matters more than ever because moviegoers are selective. Ticket prices are high. Streaming waits are shorter. Viewers do not need to take a chance on every franchise entry.

If people hear that a movie is only fine, many stay home.

That is the hard truth facing superhero studios right now. The brand alone is not enough. The character alone is not enough. The shared universe label is not enough. The movie has to feel essential.

Peter Safran Still Backs the Strategy

The Hollywood Reporter and Deadline focused on the DC Studios response, including Peter Safran’s confidence in the wider strategy. That is important because one weak opening does not automatically destroy a long-term plan.

Studios do not build universes around one weekend. They build them across several releases, streaming series, sequels, and audience habits. Gunn and Safran were brought in to rebuild DC after years of uneven results. That rebuild was never going to be instant.

But confidence does not erase the numbers.

Supergirl gives DC a clear warning: audiences may be open to the new universe, but they are not guaranteed to support every title at the same level. Superman is still the anchor. Other characters need sharper positioning, stronger reviews, and clearer reasons for general audiences to show up.

The Bigger Superhero Problem

This is not only a DC issue. The superhero genre has cooled from its peak. Before the pandemic, comic-book movies regularly dominated the global box office. Now the results are uneven.

Some films still break through. Others open soft and fade quickly. Audiences are more picky. They have seen many origin stories, multiverse plots, crossovers, reboots, and resets.

The audience is not gone. It is just harder to impress.

That is why Supergirl matters. It shows the new rules. A superhero movie cannot rely only on brand loyalty. It needs a strong hook. It needs reviews that tell people to go now. It needs a trailer campaign that makes the movie feel different.

Otherwise, people wait.

What Happens Next

The next two weeks will tell the real story. If Supergirl holds well, the film can still build a respectable run. If it drops sharply, the conversation will shift from “soft opening” to “major underperformance.”

DC Studios still has more titles ahead, including future releases tied to the new universe. But this opening will likely shape how Warner Bros. and DC think about character risk, budgets, marketing, and release timing.

The studio now has a data point it cannot ignore.

A movie led by a less-tested superhero character needs more than universe branding. It needs heat. It needs clarity. It needs people outside the core fan base to care.

Bottom Line

Supergirl did not crash, but it did not soar.

The movie opened to $38 million domestically and about $68 million worldwide, well below what a major superhero film with a large budget needs to feel comfortable. Toy Story 5 dominated the weekend, audience response was not strong enough to change the story, and DC Studios now faces a real test of patience.

The new DC universe is still alive. But this weekend proved one thing fast: strategy is not momentum. Results are momentum.

U.S. Embassy in the Philippines, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons