Supergirl finished its first weekend as a major disappointment at the box office, and DCU boss Peter Safran has broken his silence on the film’s low start. Thanks to several reasons, the second movie in James Gunn’s new DCU opened with a low $38 million domestic opening weekend and only $68 million worldwide. Not only did it not make anywhere near what Superman made in its opening weekend ($125 million domestic and $220 million worldwide), but it finished in second place behind Toy Story 5, which is in its second week in theaters. According to Safran, while it is disappointing, it is not something that will sidetrack the DCU’s production plans.
“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,” Safran told the New York Times.
Supergirl’s box office has to be disappointing for Peter Safran and James Gunn when it comes to the DCU franchise. This is only the second movie of their slate, and a $38 million opening is nowhere near what Warner Bros. wanted to see from the movie. The movie was targeting around $50 to $55 million when the weekend started, and the final numbers are way down from that. Much of this is due to a polarizing reception, and some might be thanks to the early review bombing. However, critical reviews have also been low, with reviews praising Milly Alcock’s performance but many not liking the story itself. Supergirl currently sits at 56% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 77% audience score.
That said, Safran said that there are bigger plans on the table here, and Supergirl was only part of those plans. Superman had a fantastic 83% critical score and 90% from audience members. Part of the problem with Supergirl is that it was darker and nowhere near as colorful and optimistic as Superman. However, that was always part of Gunn’s plans, as he wants each movie to stand out on its own and not all look alike. Many of the complaints about the Marvel Cinematic Universe were that all the movies seemed to have the same setup and patterns, and it was only outliers like Gunn’s own Guardians of the Galaxy that stood out. Gunn wants to fix that with the DCU, and fans don’t seem on board yet.
The next DCU movie release is Clayface, which is a straight-up body horror movie. This will be nothing like Superman or Supergirl, and it will be interesting to see how audiences react to it. However, Gunn knows the struggles it will have, which is why the budget for it is extremely low for a comic book movie at only $40 million. After that, Superman is back with Lex Luthor and a new villain in Brainiac in Superman: Man of Tomorrow, and that should bring back the fans who loved Superman and didn’t care for Supergirl.
However, Supergirl is not finished yet. The breakeven point for Supergirl looks to be about $300 to $375 million, and there is a chance it could have legs. The problem is that movies like Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu and Masters of the Universe showed that even fun action movies based on major franchises can’t overcome slow starts, so Supergirl’s future might come later when the movie hits streaming and home video. It also doesn’t help that this year has been a tough one, with so many successful movies dominating the box office. Horror movies like Backrooms and Obsession helped kill the momentum of Star Wars and Masters of the Universe movies. Now, animated movies like Toy Story 5 and next weekend’s Minions movie will likely cripple Supergirl’s momentum.
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