In a setback for Warner Bros. ′ revamped DC movie operations, ‘Supergirl’ was absolutely no match for ‘Toy Story 5’ at the box office, opening a distant second to the Pixar blockbuster.
‘Toy Story 5’ tops North American box office
After a near-record debut for an animated movie, ‘Toy Story 5’ remained No. 1 at the box office with USD 70 million in domestic ticket sales and another USD 89.1 million overseas, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. release has in two weeks quickly amassed USD 585 million globally, making it one of the biggest hits of the year.The film is also expected to wind up as the biggest entry in the 31-year-old franchise, a record that currently belongs to ‘Toy Story 4’ with USD 1.07 billion.
‘Supergirl’ makes disappointing debut
‘Supergirl’, however, failed to lift off. It opened with USD 38 million in U.S. and Canadian theaters. It added UDS 30 million in overseas markets. With this, the film scored an estiamted worldwide debut of USD 68 million. The film cost an estimated USD 170 million to make.Craig Gillespie’s superhero spinoff is the second big-screen release from James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were tapped to lead DC Studios in late 2022. Their first release, 2025’s ‘Superman’, grossed USD 618 million worldwide, a strong-enough start for the duo. Gunn, who serves as a producer on ‘Supergirl’, handed directing duties to Gillespie, the filmmaker of ‘I, Tonya’ and ‘Cruella’.But the Millie Alcock-led film flopped with both critics and moviegoers. Reportedly trimmed significantly after test screenings, Gillespie’s film landed poor reviews (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a “B-” CinemaScore from audiences. In the film, she stars as Supergirl, or Lara Zor-El, a younger cousin to Superman who’s more of a party girl than a world saver.The poor opening weekend for ‘Supergirl’ puts it behind the disappointing debuts of DC busts like ‘The Flash’ (USD 55 million in 2023) and ‘The Green Lantern’ (USD 53 million in 2011), and only barely ahead of ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ (USD 37.7 million in 2024).
Superhero movies no longer drive box office success
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 USD 3.5 billion annually from its highs in 2017-2019.After huge successes like ‘Wonder Woman’ (USD 822 million in 2017) and ‘Captain Marvel’ (USD 1.13 billion in 2019), female-fronted superhero movies have also taken a downturn.The next DC release is ‘Clayface’, a body horror take on the DC character, to be released in October. Gunn’s ‘Superman’ follow-up, ‘Man of Tomorrow’, is currently in production. It’s dated for July 2027.
‘Obsession’ becomes sixth highest earning film of all time
The micro-budget horror phenomenon ‘Obsession’ continued to hold unusually strong. It took third place on the weekend with USD 9.8 million in its seventh weekend of release. Curry Barker’s film, made for less than USD 1 million, has now collected USD 233.9 million domestically for Focus Features, plus USD 108.9 million internationally.With its gross collection of over USD 370 million worldwide, the film is now all set to surpass ‘Sinners’ and become the highest grossing live-action original film of the 2020s. The film also officially dethroned ‘The Exorcist’ as the sixth highest-grossing horror movie of all time at the North American box office
‘Jackass: Best and Last ‘ has USD 10.3 million global debut
Paramount Pictures’ ‘Jackass: Best and Last’ was the weekend’s other new wide release. The latest stunt compilation from Johnny Knoxville and company opened with a modest USD 8.4 million from 2,855 North American theaters but faltered overseas with USD 1.9 million from 19 markets for a global debut of USD 10.3 million.. While that’s a good result for a movie that cost just USD 10 million to make, the 2022 installment, ‘Jackass Forever’, debuted with USD 23 million before ultimately grossing USD 80 million worldwide.
‘The Invite’ off to a poor start
Olivia Wilde’s dinner party comedy ‘The Invite’ notched one of the best per-screen averages of the year. Opening on seven screens in New York and Los Angeles, it debuted with USD 379,104, good for a per-screen average of USD 54,158.Wilde’s third film as director stars herself, Seth Rogen, Penelope Cruz and Edward Norton as a pair of San Francisco couples who meet for an impromptu night together. A24 acquired the film after its buzzy Sundance Film Festival premiere. The indie distributor is hoping ‘The Invite’, which will expand next week and go nationwide on July 10, can revive the largely dormant summer comedy.
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. Toy Story 5 – USD70 million.2. Supergirl – USD 38 million.3. Obsession – USD 9.8 million.4. Jackass: Best and Last – USD 8.4 million.5. Disclosure Day – USD 8.1 million.6. Backrooms – USD 4.3 million.7. Scary Movie – USD 3 million.8. Masters of the Universe – USD 2.2 million.9. Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War – The Calamity – USD 2 million.10. Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu – USD 1.6 million.
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