Months Before Release, DC Studios Tested Two ‘Supergirl’ Cuts in a Bakeoff That Sent Scores Down

For months before ‘Supergirl’ reached theaters, DC Studios reportedly concluded the film was not coming together as expected. The Hollywood Reporter reports that the studio’s internal review intensified during a March test of competing edits, a decision that came after early indicators raised concerns for executives responsible for the DC slate.

According to the report, the studio held a bakeoff-style comparison in March, running test results on two versions of the movie. It says the studio’s own cut was evaluated against a cut associated with filmmaker Craig Gillespie, with producers James Gunn and Peter Safran also described as connected to the studio-run version. The article says the results did not improve, with scores for ‘Supergirl’ falling during the testing window.

The report characterizes the moment as a setback for those involved, emphasizing the stakes for DC Studios at a time when it is attempting to demonstrate it can expand beyond projects led by Gunn. It notes that ‘Supergirl’ would be a key test for Warner Bros. as its first feature not written and directed by Gunn, following earlier films and series associated with his creative leadership.

‘Supergirl’ stars Milly Alcock as the title character. The Hollywood Reporter says the film was budgeted in the $180 million range. It also reports that the movie opened below expectations, grossing $37.1 million on its opening weekend, a figure it describes as lower than the opening of 2024’s ‘Joker: Folie a Deux,’ which debuted at $37.6 million.

The article links internal creative friction to the production timeline. It states that Gunn and Gillespie had creative differences over the direction of the movie, and it frames the March testing as a culmination of those disagreements and the studio’s assessment that fixes were not simply a matter of refining one finalized version.

While the report notes that failures can be explained by multiple factors, it says the fate of ‘Supergirl’ appears to have been seeded earlier than the public release. It also points to the possibility that several questions, including casting, creative direction, release timing, and budget level, were active considerations behind the scenes.

With the film’s outcome now established, the immediate next steps for DC Studios are not described in the report in procedural terms, but the coverage underscores how early internal testing and leadership disagreements can surface before a wide audience ever sees a final cut.

The Hollywood Reporter’s account places a detailed timeline around studio decision-making, describing an internal moment in March when DC Studios compared competing edits and recorded weaker responses, as executives sought evidence that the project could still land with audiences before release.