The studio was hoping to repeat the success of 'Superman,' which powered a box-office turnaround for Warner Bros. last year and breathed new life into its DC comics franchise

Industry experts are forecasting a soft opening weekend for "Supergirl," which has received mixed reviews.

Not all superhero movies are destined to conquer the box office.

"Supergirl," the latest installment in Warner Bros. Discovery's $(WBD)$ major reboot of its DC Studios brand, is tracking toward an underwhelming opening weekend, industry experts say, dashing hopes that the soaring comeback started by last year's "Superman" would continue.

Industry analysts are predicting the film, which stars Milly Alcock as Superman's cousin Supergirl, will bring in between $40 million and $50 million in the U.S. this weekend and another $40 million or so overseas.

"That would be a soft opening for a superhero movie and would put it on track for maybe $200 million worldwide," said David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, which analyzes box-office data. "Given the cost of the film, that would not be great."

Those numbers wouldn't necessarily make "Supergirl" a flop, but they would make it difficult for the film - which cost approximately $170 million to make and tens of millions more to publicize - to make its money back. The film opens Friday and has received middling reviews.

A representative for Warner Bros. didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

"Supergirl" marks Warner Bros.' second foray in its effort to revamp its DC Studios brand. For years, Warner Bros. has struggled to find consistent success with films derived from the intellectual property of the DC Extended Universe and has run a distant second behind Walt Disney's $(DIS)$ megafranchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In late 2022, Warner Bros. brought in director James Gunn, who helmed the "Guardians of the Galaxy" franchise, and producer Peter Safran to run DC Studios and bring greater focus to the studio's output.

The first attempt was last year's reboot of "Superman," which turned out to be a box-office smash, bringing in $619 million worldwide, including $354 million in the U.S. The success of the film helped lift Warner Bros. to its best annual box-office performance since before the pandemic.

A setback with "Supergirl" would not likely be seen as a reason to panic for Warner Bros., even ahead of the company's merger with Paramount Skydance $(PSKY)$, Gross said. He noted that the studio has several other DC Universe films in the pipeline, including another Superman movie and a new Batman movie slated to come out next year.

"I don't think this will trip up their plans for the studio's future," he said.

Gross noted that superhero movies have been on the decline in recent years, except for "really established brands."

"We used to see seven to eight superhero movies a year, bringing in $7 billion to $8 billion," he said. "Now it's down to four a year and closer to $2 billion."

-Lukas I. Alpert

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 25, 2026 16:27 ET (20:27 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.