Supergirl has officially concluded its run at the worldwide box office, and similar to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it's just set a record. Unfortunately, this isn't one that DC Studios will want to talk about.
With a final total of $125.8 million, Supergirl is the lowest-grossing DC movie since 2004's Catwoman. That only made $82 million, and the Maid of Might will also end her run in theaters with $83 million less than Joker: Folie à Deux and $45 million below Sony's Marvel flop Morbius.
Adjusted for inflation, Supergirl actually made less than Catwoman, making it an even bigger flop. Misfires happen—look no further than last year's Captain America: Brave New World for proof—but this is only the DCU's second movie, which is sure to raise eyebrows given the franchise's troubled past.
Supergirl opened to a mere $37.1 million in North America in June and just over $62 million globally, a disastrous start that made it clear right away the DC Studios movie would lose money. Supergirl had a reported $170 million production budget and spent at least $100 million on marketing.
"Obviously, as you've seen in these last weekends, not everything is going to work," DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran recently said, "but we don't judge the success of our 10-year plan based on any individual project along the way."
This big-screen adaptation of Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow comic book ends its time in theaters below The Marvels, which remains Marvel Studios' lowest-grossing MCU movie with only $206.1 million. Wonder Woman 1984 made $169.6 million in 2020. However, that received a day-and-date HBO Max release at a time when attendance in theaters was limited due to the pandemic.
Supergirl won't top Shazam! Fury of the Gods ($134 million), and also falls short of Blue Beetle ($130 million). It's 2023 all over again for the DCU, and that's what James Gunn and Peter Safran set out to fix. Now, the hope is that next summer's Man of Tomorrow can right the ship. Milly Alcock will reprise her role as Kara Zor-El in the Superman sequel.
"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 available on Digital and arrives on 4K Blu-ray on September 8. In the meantime, Gunn has just celebrated Amanda Waller, reiterating that Viola Davis will continue to play the character in the DCU, despite the Waller TV show being scrapped.