After Flopping In Theaters, Supergirl Is A Streaming Hit On HBO Max

After Flopping In Theaters, Supergirl Is A Streaming Hit On HBO Max

DC Studios' Supergirl was a box office flop with only $126 million at the worldwide box office, but following its streaming debut on HBO Max, the DCU movie is already topping the charts.

By JoshWilding - Sep 15, 2026 10:09 AM EST
Filed Under: Supergirl

Supergirl arrived on HBO Max last Thursday, and despite flopping at the box office, the movie appears to be a hit on HBO Max. It's been the most-watched movie on the platform in several countries since its premiere, but its U.S. performance is particularly impressive.

The movie is currently #1 in the U.S., beating the second-place title—Practical Magic—by almost two-to-one. Practical Magic 2 arrived in theaters last weekend, leading to a surge of interest in its 1998 predecessor.

This good news for Supergirl comes just as DCU fans overseas have learned that Superman is being pulled from HBO Max in many international markets. The movie will be available on Netflix starting this Saturday, but Warner Bros.-produced titles being pulled from HBO Max has become a real issue for the streamer in recent years.

Supergirl has 53% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 72% Audience Score on the "Popcornmeter." The second DCU movie grossed $126 million on a reported $180 million production budget with a marketing spend of approximately $100 million. 

There won't be a Supergirl sequel, but Millie Alcock is set to reprise the role in next July's Man of Tomorrow movie. James Gunn has said the Superman follow-up focuses primarily on Clark Kent and Lex Luthor, so her screen time may be limited.

In its inaugural flight into the new DC Cinematic Universe, Supergirl reveals the origin of the interplanetary nomad Kara Zor-El, a.k.a. Supergirl, cousin of Kal-El, better known as Superman. Headstrong, worldly-wise, and often reckless, Supergirl exudes a brand of heroism all her own—truthful, relatable, and always on her own terms.

But when an unexpected and ruthless adversary strikes too close to home, Kara reluctantly joins forces with an unlikely companion. Together they undertake an epic, interstellar journey, struggling to balance their need for vengeance with the pursuit of justice—and to save the life of Kara’s best friend, her dog Krypto. Ultimately, Supergirl will prove that doing good can be tough... and it doesn’t always have to be nice.

Supergirl stars Milly Alcock, Matthias Schoenaerts, Eve Ridley, David Krumholtz, Emily Beecham, David Corenswet, and Jason Momoa. The film is written by Ana Nogueira and directed by Craig Gillespie. DC Studios heads Peter Safran and James Gunn produced the film.

"Bad writing, gratuitous cameos, and uninspired visuals take us back to the bad old days of the DCEU in Supergirl," we wrote in our review, "a showcase for the super-talented Milly Alcock, but Kryptonite to anyone who likes good superhero movies."

Supergirl is now streaming on HBO Max.

About The Author:
JoshWilding
Member Since 3/13/2009
A lifelong comic book fan who grew up on Spider-Man: The Animated Series in the '90s, Josh Wilding has been contributing to ComicBookMovie.com since 2009.

While he's also written for websites like Batman-News, HeyUGuys, and WhatCulture, Josh is CBM's Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic and the site's #1 contributor with nearly two decades of experience covering film and TV news (including interviews with Tom Holland, Chris Pratt, Gary Oldman, Halle Berry, Jon Bernthal, Tom Welling, and hundreds more).

Based in the UK with his wife, Josh is also an avid WWE and Formula 1 fan and writes about those passions on CBM's sister sites, TheRingReport.com and FullThrottleHQ.com. Favourite superhero? Spider-Man. Favourite pro wrestler? CM Punk. Favourite F1 driver? Max Verstappen.
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Lisa89
Lisa89 - 9/15/2026, 10:09 AM
#ReleaseTheGillespieCut
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 9/15/2026, 10:15 AM
Release it in threatres again, we were all just busy that week.
dragon316
dragon316 - 9/15/2026, 10:19 AM
@HashTagSwagg - like movie better than book
MyCoolYoung
MyCoolYoung - 9/15/2026, 10:16 AM
It’s only been out a week so I don’t know if they’d consider that a hit but it doesn’t Surprise me people are watching it. People choose the “wait until it goes to streaming” option all the time
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/15/2026, 10:46 AM
@MyCoolYoung - yep

Unless it’s a big event film or WOM is strong then people I think will likely just wait to watch stuff at home at this point.
LSHF
LSHF - 9/15/2026, 10:51 AM
@MyCoolYoung - That's what I came here to say (but not as well).

Heck, I've spent decades waiting for non-theatrical movies to arrive (on network television, home video, cable movie channels, etc.), as have millions of others.

The current waiting period is nothing compared to what millions of us are used to. It can help when we exercise patience (easier said than done, I know).

But, like you stated, it's no surprise that we can wait. Personally, I've been waiting on these super hero movies since the early seventies; I can wait a bit longer for streaming on a channel that I subscribe to.
BillyBatson1000
BillyBatson1000 - 9/15/2026, 10:18 AM
You can always trust DC to make a watchable TV movie with a big cinematic budget.
Puckaluck
Puckaluck - 9/15/2026, 10:25 AM
I watched it last night for the first time. The word of mouth made me expect to hate this movie, but I actually didn’t mind it. It wasn’t great by any means, but it was definitely watchable. I think Millie is great as Kara, and had a future as the character.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 9/15/2026, 10:36 AM
What you'd expect, this film is equally as bad as those 250 mil Netflix garbage like Red Notice and Electric State. Terrible direction, script, and ugly ass looking film. Never expected to get garbage worst than those cheesy CW shows.
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 9/15/2026, 10:40 AM
sequeal confirmed
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marvel72
marvel72 - 9/15/2026, 10:45 AM
It was ok,nothing special.
emeraldtaurus
emeraldtaurus - 9/15/2026, 11:03 AM
@marvel72 - agreed, there were some really cool moments and some were just plain dumb. Very sloppy at times but fun to watch.
MaxPaint
MaxPaint - 9/15/2026, 10:49 AM
Everything in this lying ass DCU is a success until the real numbers come up.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 9/15/2026, 10:51 AM
Well , it’s good to hear that the movie is doing well on streaming apparently…

I dont think it was a good film but nor do I feel it was as bad as some made it out to be either hence “mid” at best imo.

However Milly Alcock was the MVP so if there’s any real success story out of this film , it’s that i want to see more of her and this version of Kara!!.

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NGFB
NGFB - 9/15/2026, 10:53 AM
This proves there's a fine line between making the effort and spending money to go out to the theater, vs just watching it at home. It wasn't a big enough "event", and nobody cares about Mill Alcock.
SATW42
SATW42 - 9/15/2026, 10:58 AM
@joshwilding - "It's been the most-watched movie on the platform in several countries since its premiere, but its U.S. performance is particularly impressive.

The movie is currently #1 in the U.S., beating the second-place title—Practical Magic—by almost two-to-one. Practical Magic 2 arrived in theaters last weekend, leading to a surge of interest in its 1998 predecessor."

Is there a source for this? It's not that I don't believe you, it would jsut be nice to see the actual numbers.

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