As Supergirl Hits $100 Million Worldwide, DCU Movie Now Looks Set To End Its Run With $130 Million

As Supergirl Hits $100 Million Worldwide, DCU Movie Now Looks Set To End Its Run With $130 Million

It's a super-disaster for Supergirl as the DCU movie is now gearing up to end its run at the worldwide box office with as little as $130 million, a major blow to James Gunn and DC Studios.

By JoshWilding - Jul 05, 2026 02:07 PM EST
Filed Under: Supergirl

In the wake of a bombshell report detailing Supergirl's troubled post-production process, things are not getting any better for the DC Studios movie at the North American or international box offices.

Audiences have rejected the Maid of Might's movie, despite Superman ending 2025 as the year's highest-grossing superhero movie. It could have made more than its final $618 million haul had it not been for an early Digital release that James Gunn later said was so that fans who missed it in theaters would better understand Peacemaker Season 2.

Was in the trailers? The Rotten Tomatoes score? A lack of interest in non-event superhero movies? Take your pick, but Supergirl plummeted by -74.1% this weekend, grossing just $9.6 million in North America. That's the second-lowest second weekend for a DC movie in more than two decades. 

In terms of that percentage drop, it sits squarely between Morbius and The Marvels, both of which finished their global box office runs with more than Supergirl will. 

After crossing $100 million worldwide today, a mere $9.4 million from 78 international markets led to Supergirl being hit with a bigger second weekend drop than Madame Web (-63.1% vs. -59.1%). As a result, revised estimates suggest that the DC Studios production will end its global run between $130 million and $145 million. 

It's far from the biggest superhero movie flop, but DC Studios stands to lose anything up to $150 million when all is said and done on its second DCU title. Will Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav or future WBD owner David Ellison consider numbers like that acceptable so early on? Time will tell, but Clayface and Man of Tomorrow need to succeed. 

"Bad writing, gratuitous cameos, and uninspired visuals take us back to the bad old days of the DCEU in Supergirl, a showcase for the super-talented Milly Alcock, but Kryptonite to anyone who likes good superhero movies," we wrote in one of our reviews.

Supergirl is now playing in theaters.

About The Author:
JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.

While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).

Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.
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ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2026, 2:36 PM
There is no scenario where Superman works as a reboot even just a little bit and then Superman 1.5 comes out the following year and flops this badly.
thedrudo
thedrudo - 7/5/2026, 2:37 PM
Has Gunn been posting on social media or has he finally gone radio silent?
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2026, 2:40 PM
@thedrudo - Seems like Ms Gunn is doing all the talking these days.
theFUZZ008
theFUZZ008 - 7/5/2026, 2:37 PM
If they had made it for $40 mil, it would be a success. When will they learn? They need to spend less on these films. Especially risks.
XKnight
XKnight - 7/5/2026, 3:17 PM
@theFUZZ008 - Supergirl needed at least $310 million to break even, instead may end with just $130 million.

Kind of ironic. 😬
TheShellyMan
TheShellyMan - 7/5/2026, 4:37 PM
@XKnight - Variety reported it needed $375M to break even.
theFUZZ008
theFUZZ008 - 7/5/2026, 5:47 PM
@XKnight - Yes. They need to spend less.
Thing94
Thing94 - 7/5/2026, 5:50 PM
@TheShellyMan - I feel it was probably 450 million - look at the costs - 170 million production plus 130 million marketing = 300 million times 1.5 (I keep hearing that's the magic equation to break even)=450 million to break even (remember theaters take their cut)
DarthOmega
DarthOmega - 7/6/2026, 8:00 AM
@theFUZZ008 - Hollywood is gonna learn the wrong lesson from this

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It's much much Muuuuuch cheaper.
Rpendo
Rpendo - 7/6/2026, 11:06 AM
@XKnight - that’s…not what irony is.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/5/2026, 2:38 PM
"revised estimates suggest that the DC Studios production will end its global run between $130 million and $145 million."

This is just pure insanity; how could they have gotten it so wrong ?

"DC Studios stands to lose up to $150 million on its second DCU title. Will Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav or future WBD owner David Ellison consider numbers like that acceptable so early on?"

No studio, especially not a studio that's one mistake away from financial ruin like WB is, will see this as acceptable. They could have gotten away with this had it been the 7th film for example, as they could point to the 6 before it as proof of concept and that this was just an anomaly, but the 2nd movie ? Unless man of Tomorrow lights the box office on fire, which it won't, I think it's safe to say this franchise is pretty much over.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2026, 2:45 PM
@TheJok3r - After Superman and now this, MOT is in trouble.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/5/2026, 2:52 PM
@ObserverIO - If you go from Superman directly to Man of Tomorrow, then I think MOT could've crossed the $800 million mark, but with this dud in the middle ? I honestly don't see it reaching $700 million. Supergirl was clearly made because they had some mandate to have a summer movie this year, and this is the result. Not only did the movie itself cost them north of $150 million, it'll cost them money on the next movie as well. People have been complaining about Reeves taking too long to put things out, but no one can ever say he puts out mediocrity. I would rather wait 2-3 years between projects and get something worth waiting for than whatever this lemon was.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2026, 3:11 PM
@TheJok3r - I'm gonna predict right here and now that MOT will gross somewhere between Supergirl and Superman. There will be diminishing returns. It will flop.
I couldn't predict that last month, but here and now, even though the movie doesn't come out until next year I can safely and confidently make that bet.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/5/2026, 3:16 PM
@ObserverIO - I'm not ready to say it'll make less than Superman, at least not yet. If Lanterns doesn't stick the landing, then I think that becomes a real possibility. Before anyone brings up Clayface; that has far more in common with Reeves' work than Gunn's, so it succeeding or not won't impact Gunn as much as it will Reeves.
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 7/5/2026, 4:11 PM
@ObserverIO - I believe Joss Whedon could make Man of Tomorrow work. I also believe there will be serious headlines of alien activity happening once we get to the premiere night.

⏲️ will 🗣.
ElJefe
ElJefe - 7/5/2026, 7:04 PM
@ObserverIO - Next news: Gunn casts Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Martian Manhunter and everybody else for all-star lineup in sequel to MOT, The Death of Supergirl.
MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 7/5/2026, 2:39 PM
Sub-mediocre movie, Lobo included.

That being said, Clayface looks great and it cost only $40 million.
JusticeL
JusticeL - 7/6/2026, 1:38 AM
@MarvelZombie616 - that's because it doesn't look like a James Gunn movie by James Gunn.
ThorArms
ThorArms - 7/5/2026, 2:41 PM
$60m 5-day is absolutely awful for Minions
Forthas
Forthas - 7/5/2026, 2:47 PM
Wow! James Gunn really "saved" the DC franchise. I wonder what it would look like if he failed!

James Gunn is such a fraud. EVERY SINGLE DC film and TV show he has been involved in has been rejected by the fans at the box office, and YES, including Superman 2025. It is the worst live-action superhero franchise that exists today. Outside of the CW it may be the worst ever. I am starting to miss Joel Schumacher at this point!
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/5/2026, 2:56 PM
@Forthas - WB needs to take the Nolan and Reeves blueprint and apply it to the rest of their characters; this shared universe concept is just not working for them. Find the best creatives in the industry and give them their standalone Superman trilogy, Wonder Woman trilogy, etc. This is the one and only way they can salvage DC on film.
Forthas
Forthas - 7/5/2026, 3:07 PM
@TheJok3r - I believe even if you take the Nolan and Reeves Blueprint you can make an epic shared universe. One of the reasons why people are uncomfortable with pairing Cornswets Superman with Pattinsons Batman is the diametrically opposing tone of their respective universe. Right after The Dark Knight Trilogy and man of Steel came out they could have paired those two franchises. They had the same writer, nonlinear origin story, composer, and effort to maintain a real world feel. Yet, the brilliant leadership at Warner Brothers led by Zack Snyder chose not to do that and now they can't or it will be extremely awkward if they try. There greatest chance has come and gone. I guess they could pivot to the Reeves universe and build out from there but the Dark Knight and Man of Steel pairing would have set up an epic universe that I could have seen surpassing Marvel.

Oh well, I will look forward to the next sale of Warner Brothers.
ParStorm
ParStorm - 7/5/2026, 3:10 PM
@TheJok3r - They either can't or won't find someone that can make the shared universe concept viable, we need someone that genuinely loves DC and will be faithful to what audiences want and doesn't keep putting out more of the same and expecting us to like it. Honestly, give me a GL trilogy, Teen Titans trilogy, New Gods, you name it. Bring those characters to life and if they prove successful then try again.
KennKathleen
KennKathleen - 7/5/2026, 4:14 PM
@Forthas -

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ElJefe
ElJefe - 7/5/2026, 7:06 PM
@Forthas -

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itzayaboy
itzayaboy - 7/5/2026, 2:48 PM
Slightly off topic but Young Washington was a super fun watch.
XenoJazz
XenoJazz - 7/5/2026, 3:23 PM
@itzayaboy - Really?! Thats good to hear. I've been curious about it.
TheShellyMan
TheShellyMan - 7/5/2026, 4:41 PM
@itzayaboy - I won't watch because there's no vampires in it.
TheShellyMan
TheShellyMan - 7/5/2026, 4:41 PM
@itzayaboy - I won't watch because there are no vampires in it.
Huskers
Huskers - 7/5/2026, 7:40 PM
@itzayaboy - You know my so sons and I tried to see it on the 4th and every show at 3 different theaters was sold out except the 10:15 show! We managed to snag the last 3 seats in the theater for a 2pm showing after seeing it was sold out again on the 5th at 2 other theaters! It was great, really enjoyed it. They’ve greenlit a sequel!
ProfessorWhy
ProfessorWhy - 7/5/2026, 2:55 PM
See you in 2534
Urubrodi
Urubrodi - 7/5/2026, 3:31 PM
@ProfessorWhy - who knows maybe medicine will evolve enough that we might as well be here
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/5/2026, 3:34 PM
@Urubrodi - WB will still be struggling to get DC off the ground.
Matchesz
Matchesz - 7/5/2026, 2:56 PM
Not a good sign for Man of Tomorrow since this film is directly connected with Supergirl being in it
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/5/2026, 2:57 PM
@Matchesz - Do not be surprised if WB twists Gunn's arm into removing her from the movie; she's box office poison.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 7/5/2026, 4:03 PM
@Matchesz - Not to mention Superman being in Supergirl and it being a direct continuation and extention of the concept.
RolandD
RolandD - 7/5/2026, 8:23 PM
@TheJok3r - Reviews and comments here and elsewhere suggest she was the best part of the movie so I don’t think that’s the way to go.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/6/2026, 12:47 AM
@RolandD - I never had an issue with the character or who plays her, but is it really worth the risk ? There's so much negativity surrounding both the character and actress that there's a higher chance of her hurting the movie than helping it. I'm not saying they need to stop using the character or recast her; just don't use her again this soon.
TheJok3r
TheJok3r - 7/6/2026, 12:48 AM
@ObserverIO - You know they're kicking themselves so hard for connecting these two characters together so soon.
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