Continuing its momentum from last weekend, Disney/Pixar‘s Toy Story 5 is doing gangbusters at the box office, with a second weekend turnout of $70 million, depending on how strongly the movie holds through Sunday. While scores of Toy Story fans question whether the franchise should continue, I’m sure both Disney and Pixar are thrilled with the results of their hard work. On the other side of the spectrum, Warner Bros/DC Studios’ Supergirl is struggling to get off the ground with a $40 million domestic box office so far. The movie cost an estimated $170M-$186M to produce, so the studio isn’t happy with the film’s trajectory so far. You can check out our reviews for Supergirl here and here.
Supergirl stumbles at the box office
Supergirl currently has a CinemaScore of B-, which is lower than DC’s Ezra Miller-led The Flash (B) and Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom (B). Supergirl‘s score is madness. Madness, I say. I hated The Flash, and I didn’t even finish watching Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom because it was so awful. Maybe you’ll think I have poor taste, but I genuinely enjoyed Supergirl, much more so than The Flash or the second Aquaman movie, that’s for damn sure. Supergirl isn’t going to set the world on fire. Still, Milly Alcock is wonderful as Kara, and her journey throughout the film is far more rewarding than anything in films like The Flash, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, or Shazam: Fury of the Gods (B+). Sometimes, I become so frustrated by the knock-on effect of negative voices online. Everyone’s entitled to their opinion, absolutely. Still, it feels like a movie’s failure is set in stone before it has a chance to find its audience.
According to PostTrak, 59% of Supergirl‘s audience were men, and only 45% of them recommend it. Meanwhile, 41% of the audience were women, and 62% of them recommended seeing the movie. Granted, DC never expected Supergirl to make Superman money ($125M), but they hoped it would make at least $50M during its opening salvo. Even then, that’s the low end of the spectrum for a superhero movie.
Audiences want originality, not the same old thing
Unfortunately, Supergirl joins a group of other underperforming films this summer, including Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day ($44.5M) and Amazon’s Masters of the Universe ($29.4M). If you look at the trends of the past few weeks, moviegoers (especially younger crowds) are showing up for newer/younger filmmakers, like Curry Barker’s Obsession and Kane Parson’s Backrooms. These are fresh faces with talent beyond their years who stand to shake up the industry. Clearly, audiences want something new, and when your superhero movie feels in line with several others that have come before it, that wear and tear starts to show at the box office.
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