NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� In a setback for Warner Bros.鈥� revamped DC movie operations, was absolutely no match for at the box office, opening a distant second to the Pixar blockbuster.
After a near-record debut for an animated movie, 鈥淭oy Story 5鈥� remained No. 1 at the box office with $70 million in domestic ticket sales and another $89.1 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. release has in two weeks quickly amassed $585 million globally, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.
鈥淪upergirl,鈥� however, failed to lift off. It opened with $38 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters. It added $30 million in overseas markets.
Craig Gillespie鈥檚 superhero spinoff is the second big-screen release from James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were . Their first release, 2025鈥檚 grossed $618 million worldwide, a strong-enough start for Gunn and Safran.
But 鈥沦耻辫别谤驳颈谤濒鈥� flopped with both critics and moviegoers. Reportedly trimmed significantly after test screenings, Gillespie鈥檚 film landed poor reviews (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a 鈥淏-鈥� CinemaScore from audiences.
The poor opening weekend for 鈥沦耻辫别谤驳颈谤濒鈥� puts it behind the disappointing debuts of DC busts like ($55 million in 2023) and 鈥淭he Green Lantern鈥� ($53 million in 2011), and only barely ahead of ($37.7 million in 2024).
David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm FranchiseRe, noted superhero movies no longer drive the box office like they did pre-pandemic. There are fewer yearly releases, and the box office in the genre is down approximately $3.5 billion annually from its highs in 2017-2019.
After huge successes like 鈥淲onder Woman鈥� ($822 million in 2017) and 鈥淐aptain Marvel鈥� ($1.13 billion in 2019), female-fronted superhero movies have also taken a downturn.
鈥淵ou鈥檒l hear general explanations like 鈥榯he audience lost interest.鈥� Yes, they did,鈥� said Gross. 鈥淏ut no one has been able to explain why it happened so suddenly and so completely. Why female superheroes in particular, after their sensational starts? We don鈥檛 understand it either.鈥�
The stumble for 鈥淪upergirl,鈥� which cost $170 million to make, comes as Warner Bros. Discovery, the film studio鈥檚 parent company, is preparing . David Ellison, Paramount chief executive, recently met with Gunn and Safran.
The next DC release is 鈥淐layface,鈥� a body horror take on the DC character, to be released in October. Gunn鈥檚 鈥淪uperman鈥� follow-up, 鈥淢an of Tomorrow,鈥� is currently in production. It鈥檚 dated for July 2027.
Gunn, who serves as a producer on 鈥淪upergirl,鈥� handed directing duties to Gillespie, the filmmaker of 鈥淚, Tonya鈥� and 鈥淐ruella.鈥� , who briefly appeared in 鈥沦耻辫别谤尘补苍,鈥� stars as Supergirl, or Lara Zor-El, a younger cousin to Superman who鈥檚 more of a party girl than a world saver.
Paramount Pictures鈥� was the weekend鈥檚 other new wide release. The latest stunt compilation from Johnny Knoxville and company opened with a modest $8.4 million from 2,855 North American theaters. While that鈥檚 a good result for a movie that cost just $10 million to make, the 2022 installment, 鈥淛ackass Forever,鈥� debuted with $23 million before ultimately grossing $80 million worldwide.
Olivia Wilde鈥檚 dinner party comedy notched one of the best per-screen averages of the year. Opening on seven screens in New York and Los Angeles, it debuted with $379,104, good for a per-screen average of $54,158.
Wilde鈥檚 third film as director stars herself, Seth Rogen, Pen茅lope Cruz and Edward Norton as a pair of San Francisco couples who meet for an impromptu night together. A24 acquired the film after its . The indie distributor is hoping 鈥淭he Invite,鈥� which will expand next week and go nationwide on July 10, can revive the largely dormant summer comedy.
The continued to hold unusually strong. It took third place on the weekend with $9.8 million in its seventh weekend of release. Curry Barker鈥檚 film, made for less than $1 million, has now collected $233.9 million domestically for Focus Features, plus $108.9 million internationally.
Such legs, however, haven鈥檛 materialized for In the Universal Pictures鈥� third weekend of release, it slipped to fifth place with $8.1 million in domestic theaters. Spielberg’s UFO tale has grossed $193.7 million globally in three weeks.
Top 10 movies by domestic box office
With final domestic figures being released Monday, this list factors in the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Rentrak:
1. 鈥淭oy Story 5,鈥� $70 million.
2. 鈥淪upergirl,鈥� $38 million.
3. 鈥淥bsession,鈥� $9.8 million.
4. 鈥淛ackass: Best and Last,鈥� $8.4 million.
5. 鈥淒isclosure Day,鈥� $8.1 million.
6. 鈥淏ackrooms,鈥� $4.3 million.
7. 鈥淪cary Movie,鈥� $3 million.
8. 鈥淢asters of the Universe,鈥� $2.2 million.
9. 鈥淏leach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity,” $2 million.
10. 鈥淪tar Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu,鈥� $1.6 million.
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