After SUPERGIRL Bombs, One Hollywood Insider Says: "I Don't Think James Gunn Survives"

Things have changed fast for DC Studios. After Supermangave the new DC Universe a respectable launch, there was hope that James Gunn and Peter Safran had finally put the franchise on stable ground.

Instead, Supergirl has crashed at the box office, and now Hollywood is already questioning whether the current leadership can survive if things continue heading in this direction.

The timing couldn't be much worse, either. While Warner Bros. Discovery is in the middle of Paramount's massive $111 billion acquisition, DC suddenly finds itself dealing with another disappointing theatrical release.

It's a situation that has drawn comparisons to the old DCEU, where a moderately successful Superman film was followed by a major stumble.

According to The Wrap, Supergirl now faces an incredibly difficult road ahead. The report says the movie needs to reach approximately $315 million worldwide just to break even, and at this point, that seems like an uphill battle.

The trade also suggests that Gunn's strategy of putting lesser-known DC characters in the spotlight simply isn't connecting with audiences. Superhero fatigue continues to be a real issue, and moviegoers appear far less willing to buy tickets for characters who don't have widespread name recognition.

Of course, it doesn’t help that the movie isn’t very good, and the story and script are weak. This all makes Supergirl an even more curious choice as only the second film in the new DC Universe.

As the report explains, it "was a somewhat odd choice, made stranger by the fact that the cast failed to net any major movie stars to serve as an extra draw."

Even the villain became a challenge during development. According to the report, several A-list actors turned down the role of Krem of the Yellow Hills before DC ultimately cast Matthias Schoenaerts, hoping his international appeal would help boost overseas ticket sales. Unfortunately, that strategy didn't pay off.

The concerns don't stop there. The upcoming Clayface movie reportedly faces a similar obstacle, though one Warner Bros. insider says it's a "terrifying" film that could benefit from horror's current popularity following recent successes like Backrooms and Obsession.

Meanwhile, several Hollywood insiders are questioning the overall direction of the franchise. One industry insider didn't hold back, saying:

"All this is, is a Gunn and Safran production deal. It’s not a brand. Announcing a universe was dumb. DC created an expectation, and now you have delivered one Superman movie."

Another top agent went even further, casting doubt on Gunn's future at the studio: "I don’t know how nervous DC is, but certainly James Gunn should be nervous. There will always be a DC, and the current execs have survived previous regime changes, but I don’t think Gunn survives."

That's a dramatic prediction, but it highlights how quickly confidence can disappear when a franchise hits a rough patch. Not everyone inside Warner Bros. agrees with that assessment, though.

An unnamed studio source pushed back on the speculation, pointing to DC Studios' long-term ten-year plan. Even so, the insider admitted the company is "disappointed" with Supergirl's performance and acknowledged that the character "didn't connect."

The demographic breakdown reportedly tells a similar story. The studio had hoped Gen Z women would turn out in large numbers, but the audience skewed heavily toward men over the age of 25.

That same insider summed it up by saying: "Supergirl missed on a lot of levels." Even the addition of Jason Momoa as Lobo wasn't enough to move the needle.

According to the report, "His inclusion was seen by many as a transparent attempt to woo men to see the film, and a concern that women alone could not carry the movie at the box office."

The report also notes that Peacemaker Season 2, despite earning positive reviews, "failed to make much of a splash" on HBO Max, adding another disappointing result for the expanding DC Universe.

What's especially interesting is that, despite Supergirl seemingly reinforcing the idea that audiences currently show up primarily for top-tier superhero icons, DC Studios is reportedly still making the planned Bane/Deathstroke movie a major priority.

That project currently has neither a director nor stars attached, making it another gamble centered around characters that don't have the same mainstream recognition as Batman, Superman, or Wonder Woman.

Whether Gunn and Safran's long-term plan ultimately pays off remains to be seen, and Warner Bros. has publicly committed to giving them time to build their version of the DC Universe. But Hollywood is clearly paying close attention after Supergirl's disappointing performance.

One box office miss won't automatically end a ten-year plan, but if future releases struggle to connect with audiences in the same way, the pressure on DC Studios' leadership is only going to grow.