Written by Supergirl may have stumbled at the box office, but DC Studios is not acting like the sky is falling. The film opened to an estimated $38 million domestically and landed behind Toy Story 5, sparking immediate chatter about the future of DC’s rebooted universe. However, Co-CEO Peter Safran is framing the performance as one piece of a much larger plan, not a verdict on the studio’s direction.
His message is simple: one underwhelming opening weekend does not erase the long-term strategy DC Studios is building. During an interview with the NYT, he said:
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.
That makes this more than just a box office story. It is also a test of how much patience Warner Bros. is willing to show as the new DCU takes shape.
Why is the DC Studios Co-CEO Unbothered By Supergirl‘s Box Office Doom?
Milly Alcock in Supergirl | Credits: DC Studios/Warner Bros.
Safran’s response matters because Supergirl was supposed to be an important part of DC Studios’ next chapter. Instead, its softer-than-expected launch has raised new questions about audience demand and the studio’s ability to turn its reboot into a consistent hit-making machine.
Still, Safran is not treating the film as a disaster. He is leaning on the idea that DC’s larger roadmap is designed to be measured over multiple releases, not judged by a single opening frame. Supergirl was never meant to carry the entire DC reboot on its own. It is only the second DCU film after Superman, and Peter Safran’s confidence appears to rest on the wider slate that DC Studios has already mapped out. That list includes projects like Creature Commandos, Waller, Lanterns, Booster Gold, and more (Via The Hollywood Reporter).
The numbers, however, explain why the reaction has been so loud. A $38 million domestic debut is far below the kind of start a major superhero release would ideally aim for, especially with a reported production budget of around $170 million. When a film opens behind a family blockbuster like Toy Story 5, the optics become even tougher. But Safran’s argument is that the studio cannot let one soft opening outweigh the bigger picture. In other words, DC is betting that long-term continuity, not one weekend, will define the new universe.
Have you watched Supergirl yet? Let us know your view in the comments section below.
Supergirl released in theaters on June 26, 2026.
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