Peter Safran Still “Confident” In DCU Strategy After ‘Supergirl’ Didn’t Meet “Box Office Expectations”

Although Supergirl has failed to soar with its opening weekend, the DCU still has some tricks in store for moviegoers.

Following the Craig Gillespie-helmed movie’s premiere, DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran admitted the title didn’t live up to the Warner Bros. banner’s “box office expectations” against its reported $175M budget.

“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 DCU’s upcoming slate includes director James Watkins’ Clayface, premiering Oct. 23 in theaters, followed by DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn’s Man of Tomorrow, which is set for July 9, 2027. The Lanterns series is also expected to premiere on HBO in 2026.

With the World Cup and a blistering heatwave, Supergirl is currently looking at a $68M global opening weekend, taking $38M domestically.

Only slightly surpassing Joker: Folie a Deux‘s $37.6M domestic opening, Kara Zor-El’s debut solo outing in the new DCU is far behind Arther Fleck’s $114.8M global opening for the 2024 Todd Phillips-directed sequel.

Despite Supergirl‘s box office Kryptonite, the Superman (2025) followup saw the highest opening weekend for any superhero movie in Imax history, with 51% of the gross coming from Imax ($7.4M) and PLFs.