Peter Safran remains confident in DC strategy after Supergirl underperforms

Supergirl stumbled out of the gate with an estimated $38 million in the U.S. and Canada and $30 million overseas, giving Warner Bros. and DC Studios a global opening of about $68 million. For Peter Safran and James Gunn, the result turned the film into an early stress test for their rebuilt DC strategy, especially after 2025’s Superman grossed $618 million worldwide and briefly suggested the franchise reset could gain traction.

The film opened in U.S. and Canadian theaters on June 26, 2026, after beginning its international rollout on June 24. Craig Gillespie directed the movie from a screenplay by Ana Nogueira, with Milly Alcock starring as Kara Zor-El, alongside Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet and Jason Momoa. Warner Bros. positioned the release as the second theatrical DC Studios title under Gunn and Safran, and the studio’s marketing pushed the slogan “Truth, Justice, Whatever.”

The box office numbers pointed to a rough comparison with the weekend’s other major release. Disney and Pixar’s Toy Story 5 held No. 1 with $70 million domestically and $89.1 million overseas, lifting its worldwide total to $585 million. Supergirl, by contrast, was widely described as falling below expectations for a film with a reported $170 million budget. The New York Times said total weekend ticket sales were up 21 percent from the same period a year earlier even as Supergirl landed as a disappointing No. 2.

The reaction matters because Warner Bros. has staked a lot on proving that its new DC plan can sustain more than one success. The film’s 56 percent Rotten Tomatoes score and B- CinemaScore suggested critics and audiences were far less enthusiastic than the studio hoped. David A. Gross, a box office consultant, has argued that superhero films no longer command the same automatic turnout they once did, a warning sign that franchise branding alone may not be enough to carry the next wave of releases.

The pressure on Safran also extends beyond one opening weekend. Warner Bros. Discovery is preparing to be acquired by Paramount Skydance, and Paramount chief executive David Ellison recently met with Gunn and Safran. The benchmark for female-led superhero films remains high, with Wonder Woman reaching $822 million worldwide and Captain Marvel climbing to $1.13 billion. For DC, the next proof point will not be one strong opening but a run of films that can hold audiences, calm investors and show that Superman was not the exception.