After a disappointing opening weekend at the box office, “Supergirl” stands to lose Warner Bros. Discovery over $85 million during its theatrical run, TheWrap has learned.
“Supergirl” opened to $37.1 million this past weekend, well below early projections and under the $39 million domestic/$84 million start of Sony/Marvel’s 2022 misfire “Morbius,” which rapidly lost audience interest and grossed just $167 million worldwide.
As TheWrap reported Monday, “Supergirl” has a reported production budget of $170 million, and insiders said the movie needs to hit at least $315 million worldwide just to break even. Given the poor reviews and the current box office trajectory, the film is now on track to lose the studio at least $85 million after marketing costs are factored in.
The DC film, the second in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC universe of movies, suffered from poor reception from both critics and audiences. “Supergirl” has a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes and managed just a B- CinemaScore from the opening weekend crowd.
After “Superman” got Gunn and Safran’s DC Universe reboot off to a good start with a $618 million run last year, the “Supergirl” box office shows that they and their DC Studios team have work to do if they want to build mass interest in films based on lesser-known characters like Supergirl and the upcoming “Clayface,” the $40 million horror film based on the shapeshifting Batman villain coming this fall.
DC’s next tentpole film will be “Man of Tomorrow,” a “Superman” sequel coming next summer, written and directed by Gunn. That will be followed by the long-awaited “The Batman: Part II” starring Robert Pattinson, which hits theaters in October 2027.
Co-chairman and co-chief executive of DC Studios Safran said he’s confident in the course he and Gunn have set for the franchise in a statement to the New York Times on Sunday.
“While ‘Supergirl’ didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in,” he said.
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