‘Supergirl’ Opens Softly with $18 Million as ‘Toy Story 5’ Dominates Weekend

The opening day figures for ‘Supergirl’ are in, and they reveal a disappointing start for DC Studios. The film earned $18 million on its opening Friday, including previews, placing it in second place for the day and indicating an opening weekend total between $37 million and $42 million, significantly lower than the studio’s initial expectations.

On Friday, ‘Supergirl’ ranked second across 3,602 theaters, while ‘Toy Story 5’ maintained its box office lead with $21 million in its second weekend. This marks a rare instance where a superhero film loses its opening weekend to a movie that has already been in theaters for a week.

The $18 million Friday total includes $7.8 million from Wednesday fan events and Thursday previews, suggesting that the film’s actual single-day box office on its release date was closer to $10 million. The weekend total is now tracking at the lower end of pre-release projections, which had already been adjusted downward from an earlier estimate exceeding $55 million.

Critics’ reviews have also been a significant factor in this outcome. ‘Supergirl’ currently holds a 57% rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 77% audience score. While the audience score may seem decent, it pales in comparison to the superhero genre’s typical high scores, where many films achieve ratings in the 80s and 90s. For instance, James Gunn’s ‘Superman’ garnered a 90% audience score and opened to $125 million last summer.

The mixed reception has raised concerns about the film’s potential for recovery through word of mouth. Analysts suggest that a weak domestic opening can only be salvaged if international markets perform well, a scenario that already appears uncertain given early overseas numbers falling short of expectations.

The financial implications of this modest opening are significant. ‘Supergirl’ has a reported production budget of $170 million, with marketing costs potentially bringing the total investment to around $295 million. This means the film would need approximately $425 million worldwide to break even by traditional standards, although Warner Bros. has suggested that $300 million could be a more realistic internal target.

Fortunately for the film, it benefits from over 80 sponsorship partners, contributing more than $100 million in combined media value through advertising, retail placement, and digital impressions. This support could help lower the actual break-even threshold, regardless of the film’s box office performance. Whether this cushion will be sufficient to offset a weak opening weekend will become clearer once the final global numbers are reported on Sunday.

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