Supergirl has underperformed at the box office on its opening weekend — even falling behind one of Marvel’s most infamous comic book adaptations.
Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ latest superhero movie, which revolves around Superman’s female cousin, debuted to a disappointing $38 million domestically and $68 million globally at the box office, falling well short of its targeted $55 million in North American ticket sales in its first weekend.
The Superman spin-off, starring House of the Dragon breakout Milly Alcock in the titular role, still has a way to go to earn back its $170 million budget, which does not include marketing costs.
Its opening numbers are even lower than those of 2022’s Jared Leto-starring superhero movie Morbius, which pulled in $39.1 million in North American theaters despite terrible reviews and a plot that left audiences baffled.
Morbius became something of a legendary fail for a Marvel Comics adaptation, though it was technically not a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The film, which was the third installment in Sony’s Spider-Man Universe, starred Jared Leto as the titular hero character. The movie faced scrutiny even before its release due to several delays and confusion over why the niche comic book character was getting his own adaptation.
Supergirl did not have any known production delays, but it carried the same burden as Morbius in centering around a character that is not as well-known.
After James Gunn’s Superman was a massive success last summer, earning a massive $125 million on opening weekend and going on to become the highest-grossing superhero film of 2025, Warner Bros. Discovery’s CEO David Zaslav said that he felt confident in the rebooted DC Universe’s 10-year plan for their superhero movies.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 day
New subscribers only. £9.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled.
Try for free
ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
However, the character’s cousin Supergirl — whose real name is Kara Zor-El — is not nearly as recognizable, despite the character appearing in a cameo at the end of the 2025 film.
Supergirl, directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, was also met with poor reviews, with a low 56 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes’ Tomatometer. Critic Clarisse Loughrey called the movie “ugly” and “dispiriting” in her review for The Independent, writing: “The character’s strong. It’s only a shame her surroundings are so listless.”
In addition to the bad reviews, Supergirl faced competition at movie theatres with Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 staying in the top spot with $70 million in its second weekend. Indie horror Obsession slid to the third spot ahead of another new release, Jackass: Best and Last, which also stumbled domestically with $8.4 million in sales.
The DC Universe will continue next with Clayface in October, which has a substantially smaller price tag of $40 million.
