Supergirl ends theatrical run near $125 million worldwide as loss estimates range up to $240 million

Supergirl has finished its theatrical run with about $125 million worldwide, against a production budget of $170 million and a marketing spend of about $120 million. Estimates of the final loss range from about $80 million to $240 million, and Warner Bros. has not confirmed a figure.

Variety put the likely loss at almost $100 million within days of release, working from a $68 million global opening and a break-even point of about $300 million. Comic Book Resources reported a $100 million to $120 million range, and Deadline's industry sources estimated $125 million after the same weekend. Warner Bros. sources told Deadline that break-even sits in a $315 million global range, after a net production cost reported at $170 million to $186 million and $120 million in global prints and advertising. The gap between the estimates comes down to what each one counts, theatrical only or theatrical plus home entertainment and television.

The math behind the shortfall

Supergirl opened to $38 million domestically and $68 million worldwide, short of the $50 million to $55 million domestic range tracked before release. Superman, the first DC Universe film, opened to about $125 million on its way to $618 million globally. By its third weekend Supergirl had taken $115.4 million worldwide, after a 76% drop in its second weekend and a projected 60% to 70% fall in its third. More than a thousand North American cinemas had dropped the film by then, leaving it in 2,584 theaters.

Deadline valued a promotional partner campaign at $100 million-plus in media value across 80-plus sponsors, the largest Warner Bros. and DC had assembled. That spend sat outside the $120 million marketing figure.

Comic Book Resources noted it was the studio's first box office bomb since the DC Universe launched.

What went wrong before release

The Hollywood Reporter, in a report relayed by IGN on 4 July, said DC Studios and director Craig Gillespie were "not creatively aligned", and that test scores struggled to break 70 out of 100. At least four test screenings ran between December 2025 and March 2026. The studio ordered two cuts, one from Gillespie and one in-house, and screened them against each other. Gillespie's version ran about 11 minutes longer and gave more weight to Matthias Schoenaerts' villain, Krem. The studio cut won by two points and went to theaters.

Deadline reported that tracking services had flagged Supergirl as lukewarm on word of mouth before release. The first trailer and a CinemaCon bus battle scene drew a muted response. Social analytics firm RelishMix logged mixed-negative chatter, aimed at the humor and at what posters called a Guardians-style tone.

Reviews were mixed. Rotten Tomatoes stood at 57% around release, and Jeff Bock of Exhibitor Relations told Yahoo that audience perception "was not good" and the film "wasn't good enough to become an event".

What DC Studios says and what comes next

Peter Safran, co-CEO of DC Studios, told The New York Times that the film "didn't meet our box office expectations". He said it was "just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in". Superman grossed $618 million worldwide and reportedly generated about $125 million in profit, according to Bam Smack Pow. That is roughly the size of the loss Deadline's industry sources attached to Supergirl. Milly Alcock returns as Kara Zor-El in Man of Tomorrow, with David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult back as Superman and Lex Luthor.

Man of Tomorrow is due in 2027. Clayface, the DC Universe film that followed in October, carried a reported budget of about $40 million, a fraction of Supergirl's.