Milly Alcock in “Supergirl.”
Warner Bros.
“Supergirl,” starring Milly Alcock, is new in theaters Friday, and for those waiting to see the film on digital streaming, its studio will likely use the same strategy as many of its other previous PVOD releases.
Directed by Craig Gillespie and produced by DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn, Supergirl is playing in 3,600 North American theaters in its opening weekend of release. Alcock stars Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, who was introduced in a cameo appearance in the Gunn-directed Superman starring David Corenswet in July 2025.
In the new film, Alcock stars in the lead while Corenswet appears in a smaller supporting role. The film begins with Kara celebrating her birthday on a red sun planet — where she can party it up and get drunk — where she encounters Ruthye Marye Knoll (Eve Ridley), a 14-year-old girl who is seeking vengeance against the ruthless Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) following a family tragedy.
While Kara is helping Ruthye, Krem also shoots the Kryptonian’s four-legged companion, Krypto the Superdog, with a poisonous dart that will kill the pooch in three days unless she can get the antidote from the space pirate.
Rated PG-13, Supergirl also features Jason Momoa as the alien mercenary Lobo, as well as David Krumholtz and Emily Beecham as Kara’s parents, Zor-El and Alura.
While major studios like Paramount and Universal have been extending their windows between their theatrical releases and the day their films arrive on digital streaming via premium on demand, Warner Bros. has largely stuck to its PVOD release strategy.
As such, Paramount, which released the bulk of its theatrical releases on PVOD a month later, now has a 45-day window before its new films hit digital. Universal, on the other hand, has extended its theatrical-to-PVOD window from as little as 18 days to five weekends (or about 31 to 32 days), and will broaden that window to seven weekends (or 45 days) in 2027.
Warner Bros., however, has stayed with the one-month theatrical-to-PVOD window, as recent releases including They Will Kill You, Lee Cronin’s The Mummy and Mortal Kombat II each debuted on digital streaming 31 or 32 days after opening in theaters. So, what does that mean for Supergirl?
Milly Alcock in “Supergirl.”
Warner Bros. Pictures
‘Supergirl’ Will Likely Arrive On PVOD By The End Of July
While Supergirl is a higher-profile release for the studio than the above-named predecessors, it will likely arrive on PVOD in 32 days, on July 28. The reasoning for following the studio’s standard PVOD strategy is simple. Supergirl, which has been hobbled by lackluster reviews, has seen its projected opening weekend drop from $55 million earlier this month to anywhere from $47 million to $50 million a couple of days before its official opening.
Since the film has a $170 million production budget (via Deadline) before marketing expenses — and faces more big openings coming July 1, July 10 and July 17 with Minions & Monsters, the live-action Moana and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, respectively — Warner Bros. likely won’t hesitate to recuperate costs through PVOD sales and rentals.
In addition, Superman set a precedent last year for its quick release on PVOD. Even though the first feature film in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Universe had a domestic take of $125 million from 4,135 theaters in its opening frame of July 11-13, 2025, Superman debuted on PVOD 35 days after the film’s premiere date on Aug. 15, 2025. Superman, like Supergirl, also had a lot of financial ground to make up with a production budget of $225 million plus another $125 in marketing costs, according to Variety.
When Supergirl arrives on PVOD, it will be available on a variety of digital platforms, including Apple TV, Fandango at Home, Prime Video and YouTube Movies & TV. New PVOD titles generally are available to purchase anywhere between $19.99 and $29.99 or rent between $14.99 and $24.99.
How Soon Will Supergirl Come To HBO Max?
Since Supergirl is a Warner Bros. film, the Pay-1 window for the film on streaming video on demand automatically goes to the Warner Bros. Discovery platform HBO Max.
Generally, Warner Bros. has a 77-day theatrical-to-SVOD window for its movie releases on HBO Max. For example, They Will Kill You arrived on HBO Max on June 12, 77 days (or 11 weeks) after its March 27 theatrical release; while Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is scheduled for a July 3 debut on the streaming platform, 77 days after its April 17 debut in theaters.
Should Supergirl follow Warner Bros. SVOD strategy, then it should arrive on HBO Max on Sept. 11, since all new movies typically arrive on Fridays on the platform.
Oddly enough, Superman had a shorter theatrical-to-SVOD window than most Warner Bros. titles. The film debuted on HBO Max on Sept. 19, 2025, 70 days after the film’s July 11, 2025, debut. Should Supergirl follow Superman’s path to SVOD, then the film could debut on HBO Max as soon as Sept. 4.
Right now, the only way you can see Supergirl is in theaters, so check local listings for showtimes.