DC Studios' second release under James Gunn and Peter Safran opened to $38 million from 3,600 North American theaters, according to Deadline. The $68 million global haul across 78 markets landed well below the studio's projected $50 to 55 million domestic start. Milly Alcock stars as Kara Zor-El, with the film directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira.
Audience response compounded the financial picture. Supergirl earned a B- CinemaScore, lower than every comparable recent DC and Marvel release, including The Flash, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and The Marvels, per Deadline. Critics gave it 57% on Rotten Tomatoes; audiences scored it 77%. The film drew 59% male according to Variety, signaling it failed to cross over beyond the core superhero audience.
The contrast with Gunn's DCU debut is stark. Superman opened to $125 million domestically and closed at $618 million globally. Supergirl carries a production budget of between $170 million and $186 million, per Deadline, and would need between $300 and $375 million globally to break even, according to Variety. Industry analyst David A. Gross told Variety: "This is a weak opening and a sharp drop from the last opening in the series."
Premium format screens generated 51% of the domestic gross. Toy Story 5 held the No. 1 position for a second straight weekend with $70 million domestic, now at $585 million globally after 12 days. The gap between those two numbers reflects where audience confidence currently sits heading into July.
