- DC Studios will not change its long-term vision for its cinematic universe
- This is what co-CEO Peter Safran told a reporter after Supergirlthe disastrous launch
- The Milly Alcock-led film only earned $68 million in its opening weekend
It looks like this is the damage limitation deadline for DC Studios.
After Supergirl Launched – then bombed – at the global box office, the comic book giant’s film and television division is apparently refusing to alter its broader plan for its nascent cinematic universe.
Indeed, speaking to the New York Times (NYT) following SupergirlAfter the disastrous opening weekend performance, DC Studios co-head Peter Safran insisted that he, fellow studio head James Gunn and parent company Warner Bros. “remained confident in” the long-term vision of the DC Universe (DCU). This is despite Safran’s admission that the film starring Milly Alcock “did not meet our expectations at the box office”.
Such a statement is an understatement. After its release on June 26, the film formerly known as Supergirl: the woman of tomorrow got off to a somewhat disastrous start. As the New York Times report notes, DCU Chapter One earned a paltry $68 million worldwide – $38 million in North America and $30 million internationally – in its first four days of theatrical release.
To put the first of these numbers in a terribly dark context, the much-maligned Spider-Man spinoff film Morbiusaka the vampire anti-hero film starring Jared Leto, grossed just $39 million in North America during its miserable opening weekend in late 2022.
What makes Supergirl‘s performance is made all the worse by the fact that, at the time of publication, it held an average critic score of 56% on the review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. In the meantime, Morbius has been stuck at a grueling 15% for almost four years. So the fact that the second DCU Chapter One movie grossed $1 million less in North America than Morbius should really ring alarm bells at DC Studios HQ.
Why didn’t Supergirl fly higher at the global box office?
Many reasons can be given, including the ongoing debate over superhero fatigue, which prioritizes a new Supergirl film about, say, a film starring another so-called DC Comics Holy Trinity in Batman and Wonder Woman, and – perhaps most crucial of all – word of mouth. After all, when it comes to the last of these reasons, films can live or die based on what critics and/or general audiences not only think of them, but say about them. You can see what I thought of Alcock’s adventure via mine. Supergirl goodbye.
But I digress. In my opinion, there’s another major cause for Supergirl’s incredibly poor performance worldwide – and it has to do with two powerful animated film franchises: Toy story And Minions.
As for the first, the critical reception reserved for its fifth installment was as mixed as SupergirlIt was. Damn, in my Toy Story 5 review, I gave it three stars out of five, which is the same rating Supergirl won.
Nevertheless, Toy story‘s immense popularity means he can – at least for now – withstand any negativity that comes his way. This is evident from its own worldwide ticket sales, which saw Toy Story 5 rack up a whopping $585 million (per variety) in its first 12 days of theatrical release.
Then we come to the other aforementioned billion-dollar-grossing film series in Minions. With his next story — Minions and monsters – is not only expected to arrive on July 3, but is also expected to bring in an equally enormous amount of money, the moment of SupergirlThe release couldn’t have been worse. Maybe if its launch had been delayed until August, when its biggest competitor would have arguably been next. Insidious film, it could have gone higher.
For more on the latest DCU project, check out my Supergirl end of piece explained to see how it potentially sets up The man of tomorrow, that is to say the continuation of that of last year Superman movie. Alternatively, see when Supergirl could come to HBO Max.
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