‘Supergirl’ Second Weekend Drop Becomes One of the Worst in Superhero History

The latest box office figures are in, and they are as grim as anticipated. ‘Supergirl’ managed to earn only $3.6 million on its second Friday, marking an approximate 80% decline from its opening day. The film is now projected to finish its second weekend with a total between $8.5 million and $10 million, landing in fourth place during a holiday weekend it was never expected to dominate. However, the extent of this drop is particularly alarming.

This significant second-weekend decline places ‘Supergirl’ among the worst-performing superhero films in box office history. It now ranks just behind ‘Joker: Folie à Deux,’ which saw an 81% drop in its second weekend in 2024, and ‘The Marvels,’ making this the third worst decline for a comic book movie in recent times.

The competitive landscape exacerbated the situation. ‘Supergirl’ not only lost its second weekend to ‘Minions and Monsters’ and a returning ‘Toy Story 5,’ but it also fell behind ‘Young Washington,’ the Angel Studios historical biopic that opened with an estimated $16 to $17 million. This indie film, despite modest critical reception, outperformed the DC film, highlighting a level of failure that goes beyond typical box office disappointments.

The financial outlook remains bleak. The film entered the holiday weekend with $48.8 million domestically and $34.5 million internationally, totaling $83.3 million worldwide. With a reported production budget of $170 million and marketing costs around $120 million, the breakeven point is approximately $300 million globally, a target that now seems increasingly out of reach. A Variety analysis estimates losses between $100 million and $120 million, with the studio facing even larger write-downs if the film fails to reach $200 million worldwide before leaving theaters.

The production faced additional challenges behind the scenes. Reports from World of Reel indicate that James Gunn took over ‘Supergirl’ post-production due to creative differences with director Craig Gillespie, with multiple cuts tested before finalizing the version that was released. This detail has come to light just as the film is experiencing a significant decline, adding a troubling narrative to an already disastrous commercial performance.

DC Studios co-head Peter Safran told the New York Times after the opening weekend that while the film did not meet expectations, it is “just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in.”

That confidence will be put to the test as the final domestic total is expected to fall well short of $100 million, especially with ‘Clayface’ set to release later this year, which boasts a much smaller $40 million budget and may need to demonstrate that the franchise model can still succeed on a reduced scale.

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