Supergirl might only open at $40 million after rough previews
The DC movie pulled $7.8 million in previews, below The Flash and a fraction of last year’s Superman. Here’s how that stacks against other superhero openings, and what the comparison says about the weekend ahead.
The first real box-office numbers for Supergirl are in, and they’re not the rescue the movie needed. The DC film earned $7.8 million in preview screenings, and the company it keeps at that number isn’t flattering.
When you line it up against other recent superhero movies, Supergirl lands closer to the flops than the hits. Here’s the breakdown.
What “previews” even means
Quick explainer first, because the number needs context.
“Previews” are the early Thursday-night (and sometimes Wednesday) screenings that happen before a movie’s official Friday opening. They’re an early temperature check. A big preview number usually signals a big opening; a soft one usually signals a soft weekend.
One catch worth noting: Supergirl‘s $7.8 million actually includes both Wednesday fan events and Thursday shows, so it’s got a little extra baked in compared to some Thursday-only figures below. Even with that boost, it came in low.
How it compares to other superhero movies
Here’s where that $7.8 million lands among recent comic-book films’ preview nights.
Toy Story 5: $17.5 million
The Mandalorian & Grogu: $12 million
The Flash: $9.7 million
Shazam!: $9.2 million
Supergirl: $7.8 million (Wednesday + Thursday)
Black Adam: $7.6 million
The Marvels: $6.6 million
Read that list and the problem jumps out. Supergirl sits just above The Marvels, which became the lowest-grossing movie in Marvel history, and Black Adam, a film widely seen as a financial disappointment.
It’s below The Flash, which is practically shorthand for “superhero flop.”
The number that really stings
Here’s the comparison that hurts the most, though.
Last year, Supergirl‘s own predecessor, Superman, pulled $22 million in previews. It went on to a $125 million opening weekend and $618 million worldwide.
So Supergirl did barely a third of what Superman did at the same stage. The second movie in James Gunn’s rebooted DC is opening at a fraction of the first one’s pace, the opposite of the momentum a shared universe is supposed to build.
What it means for the weekend
The previews point where the tracking already did.
Based on that $7.8 million, Supergirl is now projected for a domestic opening around $40 million, down from earlier hopes of $50 million-plus. It’s also, importantly, going to lose the weekend. Toy Story 5, in its second weekend, is expected to pull around $90 million, more than double Supergirl‘s entire opening. Supergirl will likely land in second place behind a cartoon that’s already been out a week.
Overseas isn’t helping either. In Japan, the film opened second behind Michael, posting one of the lowest first-Friday numbers for a DC film in over a decade.
But it’s not a total wipeout
Now the honest other side, because the numbers cut both ways.
Supergirl has two things working for it. First, the budget. At a reported $170 million, it’s far cheaper than The Marvels ($307 million) or The Flash, so its break-even point, around $315 million worldwide, is lower. A soft opening doesn’t automatically mean a money-loser.
Second, the audience score is holding up better than the reviews. While critics have it at a Rotten 58%, audiences are giving it a more respectable 77%, higher than The Flash (63%), Shazam: Fury of the Gods (49%), and Joker: Folie à Deux (31%). A happy audience can mean good word of mouth, which can stretch a soft opening into a longer run.
That’s the one lifeline here. Supergirl needs legs, the box-office term for a movie that keeps selling tickets week after week instead of dropping fast.
The bottom line
The previews confirm what the tracking has said for weeks: Supergirl is opening soft, and the comparison points aren’t kind. Landing between The Marvels and Black Adam, and at a third of Superman‘s pace, is not where DC wanted to be.
But the lower budget and the decent audience score mean this isn’t an automatic disaster, just a disappointing start that needs a strong hold to recover.
The number that matters now isn’t the previews. It’s whether audiences keep showing up after this weekend, once the July tentpoles roll in and the window closes fast.
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Article compiled and edited by Derek Gibbs (entertainment editor) and the Clownfish TV newsroom.
Hat Tips:
Variety and Deadline (June 26, 2026), verified for the $7.8 million preview figure, the $40 million opening projection, the $13 million global first day, the $170 million budget, and Toy Story 5’s ~$90 million second weekend
ComicBook.com (June 26, 2026), verified for the preview comparisons to The Marvels ($6.6M), The Flash ($9.7M), and Black Adam, and the $315M break-even context
Deadline and Cosmic Book News (June 26, 2026), verified for the full preview-night comparison list, the Superman $22 million preview figure, and the 58% critic / 77% audience Rotten Tomatoes split