The Warner Bros. and DC Studios release ‘Supergirl’ opened below expectations with $37.1 million in North America and $62.6 million worldwide, falling short of initial estimates. With a reported $170 million production budget and roughly $120 million in marketing costs, the film is now shaping up to be a costly disappointment for the newly rebooted DC Universe.

The movie follows Supergirl and an alien girl named Ruthye on a revenge-driven journey through space, but the adventure has failed to generate event-level excitement. Its weak start is especially concerning as July brings heavy competition, including Universal’s ‘Minions & Monsters,’ Disney’s live-action ‘Moana,’ Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ and Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day.’

“This was always going to be a tough hurdle for DC and Warner Bros. because Supergirl isn’t a character that has ever created an event-level blockbuster,” said Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. “Audience perception of ‘Supergirl’ was not good. This is just a case of the film wasn’t good enough to become an event.”

A film of this scale would typically need around $375 million worldwide to break even, though one source close to the production puts ‘Supergirl’’s break-even point closer to $300 million. Current projections suggest the movie may finish with about $100 million domestically and $200 million to $210 million globally. If that holds, sources estimate the film could lose anywhere from $80 million to $120 million during its theatrical run.

Part of what could soften the financial blow is that ‘Supergirl’ does not carry the same expensive backend deals attached to some star-driven tentpoles. Milly Alcock, best known for ‘House of the Dragon,’ makes her film debut as Kara and was reportedly paid around $400,000, with only a small box office bonus if the movie succeeded.

‘Supergirl’ follows last summer’s ‘Superman,’ which relaunched the DC Universe under James Gunn and Peter Safran. That film, starring David Corenswet, opened to $125 million and finished with $618 million worldwide, giving Warner Bros. a much-needed superhero win. But ‘Supergirl’ shows how difficult it will be to build a Marvel-style interconnected universe around characters who may not yet have the same mainstream pull.

“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.

The lesson may be less about abandoning superheroes and more about controlling costs. Analysts argue that films built around less familiar comic book characters cannot carry the same budgets as Batman or Superman. DC’s next project, ‘Clayface,’ is being viewed more favorably by box office watchers because it reportedly carries a leaner $40 million budget.

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