29/06/2026 13:30 - Entretenimiento
The film "Supergirl", directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Milly Alcock, had a disappointing debut at the global box office. According to data released on Sunday, DC Studios' second release under James Gunn and Peter Safran's leadership grossed only $38 million in the United States and Canada, adding another $30 million in international markets for a total of $68 million.
In contrast, Pixar's "Toy Story 5" solidified itself as the phenomenon of the moment: it earned an additional $70 million in the United States and $89.1 million abroad during its second weekend, already accumulating $585 million worldwide. The animated film became one of the year's biggest successes.
To understand the scale of "Supergirl's" failure, it's enough to compare its numbers with other famous superhero flops. The infamous "Morbius" (2022) debuted with $84 million worldwide, while "The Flash" (2023) opened with $55 million in the United States and "Green Lantern" (2011) with $53 million. "Supergirl" barely surpassed "Joker: Folie à Deux" (2024), which debuted with $37.7 million.
The contrast with "Superman" (2025), the first film of the new DC era that grossed $618 million worldwide with a debut of $217 million, is brutal. "Supergirl" didn't even reach one-third of that opening.
For context, Argentina is the third-largest movie market in Latin America, with a strong tradition of animated films performing exceptionally well.
In Argentine theaters, the difference was equally abysmal. "Supergirl" sold only 15,000 tickets through Sunday, barely surpassing "Scary Movie" (in its third week) and falling far behind "Toy Story 5", which accumulated nearly 250,000 tickets sold this weekend alone.
The Pixar film already surpassed 1 million tickets in Argentina: it has approximately 1.3 million tickets sold, becoming the third most-watched film in the saga, though far from "Toy Story 3" (more than 3 million) and "Toy Story 4" (more than 6.5 million).
According to David A. Gross, analyst at FranchiseRe, superhero films no longer attract audiences as they did before the pandemic. Box office sales for the genre have fallen approximately $3.5 billion annually compared to their 2017-2019 peaks.
Furthermore, after successes like "Wonder Woman" ($822 million in 2017) and "Captain Marvel" ($1.13 billion in 2019), female-led superhero films have experienced a notable regression.
James Gunn has the advantage that "Clayface" is already set for release in October with a budget of only $40 million, making profitability easier. However, "Supergirl's" stumble will force Warner to rethink strategies for the new DC universe.
Alfredo S. Quiroga
