Warner Bros. and DC Studios' latest superhero offering, 'Supergirl', has experienced a lacklustre opening weekend at the global box office. The film, which centres on Superman's cousin, Kara Zor-El, struggled to attract audiences, falling significantly short of its initial projections.
In its first weekend, 'Supergirl' managed to pull in an estimated $38 million in North America and a global total of $68 million. This performance is notably below the studio's target of $55 million in domestic ticket sales for the opening period. The film, starring 'House of the Dragon' breakout Milly Alcock in the titular role, now faces an uphill battle to recoup its substantial $170 million production budget, a figure which does not even account for additional marketing expenditure.
Adding to the disappointment, 'Supergirl's' opening figures are even lower than those of the 2022 Marvel-adjacent film 'Morbius', which secured $39.1 million in North American theatres. 'Morbius', a Sony Pictures production within the Spider-Man Universe, became infamous for its poor critical reception and confusing plot, yet still outpaced DC's latest offering. Both films shared the challenge of centring on less universally recognised comic book characters.
The film's struggles come despite the recent success of James Gunn's 'Superman' in summer 2025, which achieved a massive $125 million opening weekend and went on to become the highest-grossing superhero film of that year. Following 'Superman's' triumph, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav expressed confidence in the rebooted DC Universe's ambitious ten-year plan for its superhero slate. However, 'Supergirl', despite a cameo appearance from the character in the 2025 'Superman' film, has failed to capitalise on this momentum.
'Supergirl', directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, has also been met with largely negative reviews, holding a low 56% score on Rotten Tomatoes' Tomatometer. Critics have described the film as 'ugly' and 'dispiriting', suggesting that despite the strength of the character, her cinematic portrayal has been found wanting. The film also faced stiff competition in cinemas, with Disney and Pixar's 'Toy Story 5' retaining the top spot in its second weekend, earning an estimated $70 million.