Supergirl fails to soar as box office debut lands below The Marvels

It was always a tall order expecting Supergirl to be DC Studios’ big saviour at cinemas, but the actual results came in even worse than most pessimists predicted. Over its first weekend, Supergirl managed just $38 million – a figure that really lands with a thud if you know your superhero box office flops.

The Bottom Drops Out for Supergirl

To give you a yardstick, The Marvels – another widely panned superhero sequel – scraped together $46 million on opening weekend, which was the common expectation for Supergirl as well. Even The Flash, which everyone agrees was an absolute turkey at the box office, pulled $55 million in its debut. Supergirl didn’t just underperform; it set a new low mark for the genre’s major studios.

The financial outlook is, frankly, bleak. The film’s reported production budget was in the region of $170 million – and that’s before marketing even gets a mention. Simply put, there’s virtually no way Supergirl makes its money back from cinemas alone.

If you think that’s bad, it gets worse: audience reactions have been less than amazing, with a B- CinemaScore. For those not fluent in Hollywood code, that’s a very lukewarm response, the sort that usually signals the masses won’t be rushing along the following weekend either. Expect the second week drop to be painful.

Why This Matters for the DC Universe

All of this ramps up the heat on DC Studios’ next attempt: Clayface, landing this autumn. They really need a hit. And if next year’s Man of Tomorrow doesn’t ignite the box office either, you can be sure the questions about the whole future of James Gunn’s DC Universe will be flying.

Warner Bros.: A Year to Forget (Already)

It’s not just Supergirl causing headaches for Warner Bros. After riding high in 2025, the studio’s 2026 slate has fumbled its way into early trouble:

• Wuthering Heights had a decent run.
• Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride – bombed completely.
• They Will Kill You – failed to click with audiences.
• Mortal Kombat II – underperformed versus expectations.
• The Mummy (Lee Cronin) – surprise success, $90 million worldwide on a $22 million budget.

The upcoming schedule still includes some heavy hitters – The End of Oak Street, Tom Cruise doing his thing in Digger, and J.J. Abrams’ The Great Beyond. If those tank as well, Warner Bros. could really be in for a slog.

Disney: King of the Hill (Again)

Over at Disney, it’s a much happier story. Toy Story 5 continued as this week’s box office king, taking another $70 million in its second weekend, dropping by 56% (not bad at all) and bringing its domestic haul up to $297 million. It’s not showing any signs of slowing down.

Obsession kept up its stellar momentum too. The film slipped just 27% for a tidy $9.8 million in its pocket. Totals now sit at a muscular $233 million domestic.

The Rest: Hits, Misses and Curiosities

Not everyone had a good time at the multiplex. Jackass: Best and Last opened at a franchise low of $8.4 million, and it feels like even die-hard fans have finally reached their Jackass limit.

Spielberg’s Disclosure Day is fading faster than many expected, banking $8.1 million this weekend for a present total of $94 million. At this rate, it’ll likely finish domestically around $110 million.

A24’s Backrooms clocked another $4.3 million, now sitting at an impressive $184 million.

Meanwhile, Scary Movie slid across the $100 million line: now at $103.5 million domestic, thanks to a further $3 million this week.

Final Acts: Anime, Action Figures and the Stragglers

Masters of the Universe looks to be wrapping things up with a modest $2.2 million this weekend, its domestic total is a meagre $61 million. Let’s just say, the odds of a sequel are shrinking by the day.

The latest anime feature, Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity, couldn’t muster up the usual excitement, opening with $1.9 million.

Rounding out the Top 10, we have Disney’s The Mandalorian and Grogu. Now officially the lowest-grossing Star Wars film to date, it added $1.6 million for a running domestic total of $175 million.

Specialty Releases: Mostly Carnage, One Small Triumph

Things got especially grim down in the specialty aisles this weekend. According to Exhibitor Relations:

• A24’s The Death of Robin Hood nosedived by 79% to $588,000, its cumulative total just $4.7 million. Ouch.
• Neon’s Leviticus took a 64% tumble, managing $929,000.
• Focus Features’ Girls Like Girls crashed by 80%, scraping up $300,000 for a total of $2.4 million.
• Angelina Jolie’s Couture limped in with just $135,000, working out to a grim $587 per-screen average.
• The exception: Olivia Wilde’s The Invite, which made $379,000 from just seven screens – that’s a cracking $54,000 per-screen average, so someone’s celebrating at least.

"What did you see at the movies this weekend? Let us know in the comments!"