Why Supergirl Bombed Hard at the Box Office

The dust from the weekend has finally settled, and Supergirl is unfortunately in dire straits after its debut at the box office. While the Milly Alcock-led superhero flick still has many months to go in theaters, Warner Bros. and DC Studios are already bracing for a huge loss given the movie’s large budget and marketing campaign. This successor to DCU’s 2025 Superman, in which Milly Alcock’s Supergirl appeared in a short scene, faced several warning signs as the movie had its box office projections lowered a few times as it flew toward a July 26 release. Before its debut, one prediction had it earning only $38 million in its domestic opener, and that has sadly come to pass, in what is already expected to be a gigantic box office bomb.

Supergirl was a difficult sell for audiences from the start

A July 29 report from Variety has Supergirl potentially costing Warner Bros. and DC Studios somewhere between $80 million and $120 million, depending on how much the film will be able to bring in at the box office through its full theatrical run. At the time of writing, the movie has earned $68 million worldwide in its opening weekend, per Box Office Mojo, against a $290 million total budget that combines a $170 million production and a $120 million marketing spend.

As for what went wrong with Supergirl, its main obstacle has been poor audience appeal. Broadly speaking, the superheroine is not one of the most popular characters in the DCU, so it was going to be a tough sell for audiences from the start. A list on Ranker that asks fans to vote on their favorite DC Comics heroes has Supergirl / Kara Zor-El in 25th place, below other female characters in the franchise, such as Wonder Woman (3rd), Raven (12th), Zatanna (16th), and Barbara Gordon’s Batgirl (17th).

Superman, which ranks second on the list, was barely able to eke out a box office success with the 2025 David Corenswet-led film, which brought in $618 million worldwide on a rough $560 million break-even point (that’s 2.5 times its $225 million budget). So for Supergirl, a less popular character, to become a hit as well was going to be uphill climb from the beginning, especially given that its budget was a whopping $170 million.

More than that, Supergirl received a ‘B-‘ CinemaScore, which measures a movie’s appeal by polling audiences on opening night. To put this grade in perspective, this is lower than the CinemaScores for other blockbusters, like Masters of the Universe (B), Star Wars: Mandalorian & Grogu (A-), Disclosure Day (B), Mortal Kombat II (B), and Toy Story 5 (A). Among all of the films that were still in theaters when Supergirl debuted, only the Scary Movie revival and Hugh Jackman’s The Death of Robin Hood received a lower CinemaScore of a ‘C+.’

So while Supergirl ranked ninth in an April Fandango poll on the most-anticipated summer films, it has not been able to sustain that momentum over a stacked summer schedule. With comic fans being more selective on what superhero films they want to see in theaters, many have decided to choose Spider-Man: Brand New Day (July 31) instead.

Beyond that, it was brave for Supergirl to be slated a week after Toy Story 5 (June 19), which had a gigantic $159 million domestic opener (and an ‘A’ Cinemascore to boot). In its sophomore outing, it managed to rake in $70 million domestically, taking away much of what Supergirl could have earned as a fellow family-friendly option. Early July will be a minefield for the movie’s continued run in theaters too, with Minions & Monsters (July 1), Young Washington (July 3), Evil Dead Burn (July 10), the live-action Moana (July 10), and The Odyssey (July 17).

With its placement on the theatrical calendar and lack of audience appeal, Supergirl was primed to flop at the box office regardless of what critics thought. Of course, it doesn’t help that the movie has received a low rating of 55% on Rotten Tomatoes, but its fate was largely sealed months in advance.

Source: Comingsoon.net