Supergirl is officially a box office bomb. Following a steep 73% audience drop-off in its second weekend, the latest DCU entry has stalled at a disappointing $100 million worldwide. With the film struggling to find its footing in theaters, Warner Bros. is shifting gears to recoup its losses, meaning a Supergirl digital release could be arriving much sooner than anticipated.
While Warner Bros. has yet to drop an official confirmation, industry reports suggest that Supergirl is eyeing a July 28 digital debut. If this date holds, the film will have spent barely a month exclusive to theaters before heading to premium video-on-demand (PVOD) platforms.
Although a 30-day theatrical window is fast becoming the norm for box office misfires, it’s not unprecedented for successful DCU films either. In fact, Superman followed an almost identical trajectory, hitting digital storefronts just 35 days after its theatrical premiere, despite performing well with audiences.
DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn previously explained that Superman‘s early digital release was intended to ensure audiences could see the film before the release of Peacemaker’s second season.
“The truth is, it is because of Peacemaker,” Gunn previously noted regarding tight digital windows. “At the end of the day, I wanted everyone to be able to see Superman that wanted to, even those people who couldn’t get to a theater before Peacemaker. And that’s really the reason for it.“
Directed by Craig Gillespie and written by Ana Nogueira, the film is based on Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, the comic series written by Tom King and illustrated by Bilquis Evely. After her father is murdered and the one responsible is still out there, a young alien girl named Ruthye Marye Knoll seeks out Supergirl to help her on a vicious mission. She wants revenge, and if Supergirl doesn’t help her, she’ll do it herself, whatever the cost.
Supergirl stars Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon) as Kara Zor-El, alongside Eve Ridley (3 Body Problem) as Ruthye, Matthias Schoenaerts (Rust and Bone) as Krem of the Yellow Hill, David Krumholtz (Oppenheimer) as Zor-El, Emily Beecham (1899) as Alura, and Jason Momoa as Lobo, a role he has longed to play for years.
In his review, our own Chris Bumbray said that although Alcock is great in the role, the movie she’s starring in is disappointingly generic. You can check out the rest of his review right here, as well as a slightly more optimistic second opinion from Tyler Nichols.