'Media Is By Nature a Business Full of Hits And Misses': Warner Bros. Boss Says James Gunn Is 'Focused' on Superman Sequel Man of Tomorrow After Supergirl Flop
Superman director James Gunn is "focused on Man of Tomorrow" following the failure of Supergirl, Warner Bros. chief David Zaslav has said — and now working up to 18-hour days on the forthcoming sequel.
Asked about the DCU's future following the flop of its second film, Zaslav told investors that Gunn's DC Comics universe remained on track, with its Superman sequel next out of the gate.
"I saw some pictures yesterday that looked amazing," Zaslav said, via Deadline, discussing Man of Tomorrow's production. "Actually, yesterday was James' birthday, and he's out working. He's working 16, 18 hours a day. It looks fantastic. We're super excited about it."
Regarding the rest of the DCU, Zaslav struck a positive tone, stating that its current slate "feels very good" with both Clayface and Lanterns also set for release. Outside the DCU, Matt Reeves was also said to be "working very hard" on his much-delayed The Batman sequel that is now due in 2028.
But what about Supergirl, which bombed at the box office and lost money for Warner Bros.? "A handful of recent films have underperformed expectations," Zaslav said, without naming names. "Media is by nature a business full of hits and misses," he added.
While not directed by Gunn, Supergirl was designed to be a key tentpole in the fledgling DCU following last year's Superman. Indeed, Milly Alcock's take on Kara Zor-El was introduced in Superman and has already been confirmed as returning in Man of Tomorrow. But her solo outing failed to win over audiences or critics, and ended its theatrical run with a box office of $126 million, well below its approximately $180 million production budget.
DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran previously commented on Supergirl's box office challenges in an interview with The New York Times: "While Supergirl didn’t meet our box office expectations, it’s just one component of a broader, long-term strategy at DC Studios that we remain confident in."
Alas, that strategy now has to win back DC fans who may have been put off by Supergirl's interesting creative decisions in the movie’s divisive final act. From the off, Supergirl struggled at the box office even in its opening weekend, when it grossed just over $68 million. The film saw a massive 74% drop in attendance during its second weekend in theaters, and now sits well below the top 10 highest-grossing movies of the year.
"Supergirl borrows from the best, but Milly Alcock’s great take on Kara Zor-El gets lost in the spare parts from other movies used to assemble her story," we wrote in IGN's Supergirl review, which returned a 6/10. Here's hoping Man of Tomorrow can turn things around.
Image credit: Joe Maher/Getty Images
Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social