The DC Universe has seen better days. James Gunn and Peter Safran's brand new movie franchise kicked off its cinematic wing on a triumphant note with Superman in 2025 but it couldn't replicate that success with this summer's Supergirl. Everything that could have went wrong with the movie did - from its generally negative critical reception to getting lost in a summer full of blockbusters - resulting in a catastrophic underperformance at the box office.
Supergirl is currently sitting at around a global cume of $124 million against a budget of $170 - $186 million (with a break-even point of around $300 million). We are currently a month into that run and the weekly numbers are barely going up - a depressing picture for a franchise that blossomed this time last year. And now, we have perhaps the nail in the Girl of Steel's box office coffin.
DC Studios confirms early digital release date for Supergirl
It's official: Supergirl is set to fly onto PVOD platforms this week as DC Studios has confirmed that the film will have a digital streaming release date of Tuesday, July 28 - meaning that it will be available to purchase on platforms such as Apple TV, Prime Video Store, Fandango At Home, YouTube and more to watch at home. This effectively ends the film's box office run and confirms that the long-standing rumor that it would get an early digital release was, in fact, true.
As we reported when that rumor came to light, this would make Supergirl one of the earliest digital releases in DC movies history. And, Superman aside (which was released early ahead of Peacemaker season 2), it's pretty clear what all of these films have in common:
- Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023): 21 days
- The Flash (2023): 28 days
- Supergirl (2026): 32 days
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (2023): 32 days
- Black Adam (2023): 32 days
- Superman (2025) - 35 days
- Blue Beetle (2023) - 39 days
It's a sad admission of defeat from the studio but it was an unavoidable one. Supergirl has already gone down in history as one of the most expensive box office bombs of all time, so there is nothing that can be done to save its box office performance - especially with a continually crowded movie landscape this summer which is set to be led by Spider-Man: Brand New Day this month. The plan had to shift to softening the box office blow by making it available to a whole new audience - one that didn't head out to theaters to see the film.
The DC Universe movie is undoubtedly primed for success here. Historically, superhero "flops" have found new life on digital platforms (remember how Madame Web blew up on Netflix?!) as viewers often choose to watch them out of curiosity - which often results in a well-deserved "It wasn't that bad" mentality from many of them. Supergirl deserves this too and it could well benefit from it considering it divided audiences more than outright received negative feedback.
All that being said, the success that it will see on PVOD platforms (and eventually general streaming on HBO Max) will probably never be enough to earn Warner Bros. and DC Studios back the money that Supergirl lost (which is reportedly in the range of around $100 - $200 million). The film was a record-breaking disaster, coming in below even the lower end of projections, with its opening weekend seeing it earn just $38 million at the domestic box office. While there is a universe in which it could have survived that blow - say, if it had sustained the momentum with decent box office legs - but it experienced a sharp, catastrophic 76% drop in Week 2, making it impossible for Kara Zor-El of Krypton to ever stage a comeback.
Safran did acknowledge the film's struggles early on, releasing a statement to confirm that Supergirl didn't meet DC's box office expectations but that they are still confident in the overall DCU story that they are telling. And while that seems harsh for the 2026 movie directed by Chris Gillespie, it does bode well for the immediate future of the DC Universe franchise.
Speaking of that future, the good news is that Milly Alcock is set to reprise the role as the Girl of Steel in the upcoming Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow, which will see her team up with David Corenswet's Superman to battle Nicholas Hoult's Lex Luthor all over again. By then, so many more fans will have watched Supergirl on streaming - hopefully giving the movie the second life that it so very much deserves.
Supergirl is still in movie theaters. It arrives on digital streaming platforms on July 28, 2026.
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