Supergirl opens with $18 million, trails Toy Story 5 at box office

Supergirl opened to $18 million on Friday from 3,602 theaters and finished second behind Toy Story 5, giving DC Studios its first clear box-office test under James Gunn and Peter Safran. The film, starring Milly Alcock as Kara Zor-El, reached U.S. theaters on June 26 and played in IMAX with a reported net production budget between about $170 million and $186 million, a scale that makes the debut far more than an ordinary franchise launch.

The weekend forecast was already sliding before theaters opened. Variety said the film was heading toward about $50 million domestically through Sunday, while Deadline’s late tracking put it closer to $40 million. That spread captured the uncertainty around whether the rebooted DC Universe could turn a recognizable character into a broad box-office draw after months of shifting expectations.

The comparison point that hung over the opening was Superman, the first DCU feature, which started to $125 million domestically in 2025. The Numbers said Supergirl was tracking toward an opening more in line with The Marvels at $46.1 million than with Superman’s launch, reinforcing the sense that the new DC strategy has work to do before it can claim momentum.

Craig Gillespie directed the film from Ana Nogueira’s screenplay. The broader box-office picture still belonged to Toy Story 5, which held No. 1 and was tracking toward roughly $74 million in its second weekend, putting Disney and Pixar on a path to more than $300 million domestic in about 10 days. For Warner Bros. and DC Studios, Supergirl’s opening was enough to register, but not enough to settle the argument about how quickly the rebooted universe can build an audience.