Jason Momoa stars as Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman, in Warner Bros.’ “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.”
Warner Bros. Discovery
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” dog-paddled to a $28.1 million home opening, the fourth-lowest in the history of the DC Extended Universe.
The movie was expected to open between $32 million and $42 million. As it stands, the $28 million estimate from Warner Bros. Discovery is lower than half of the $67.8 million the first “Aquaman” film introduced in throughout its 2018 debut weekend.
The movie, seemingly Jason Momoa’s final flip at the titular aquatic hero, is predicted to safe round $40 million in ticket gross sales over the four-day Christmas vacation weekend.
The weekend efficiency of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is on par with Warner Bros.’ DC franchise in current years. Only one movie from the franchise has debuted with greater than $60 million in ticket gross sales since 2018 — “Black Adam” took in $67 million in early 2022, in line with knowledge from Comscore.
DC Extended Universe movie openings
- “Wonder Woman 1984” (2020) — $16.7 million
- “Blue Beetle” (2023) — $25 million
- “The Suicide Squad” (2021) — $26.2 million
- “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” (2023) — $28.1 million
- “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” (2023) — $30.1 million
- “Birds of Prey” (2020) — $33 million
- “Shazam!” (2019) — $53.5 million
- “The Flash” (2023) — $55 million
- “Black Adam” (2022) — $67 million
- “Aquaman” (2018) — $67.8 million
- “Justice League” (2017) — $93.8 million
- “Wonder Woman” (2017) — $103.2 million
- “Man of Steel” (2013) — $116.6 million
- “Suicide Squad” (2016) — $133.6 million
- “Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016) — $166 million
Source: Comscore
The $28 million estimated opening haul is smaller than the $30.1 million “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” tallied earlier this 12 months. Notably, the second “Shazam!” movie solely managed to gather $57.6 million domestically and $133 million globally throughout its run in theaters.
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” added $80.1 million from worldwide ticket gross sales Friday via Sunday, bringing its whole anticipated international take to $120 million (together with the home Christmas expectations for Monday).
The first “Aquaman” additionally benefited from worldwide ticket gross sales again in 2018. More than 70% of its $1.15 billion field workplace got here from markets exterior the U.S. and Canada, in line with Comscore knowledge.
Notably, “Aquaman” is the highest-grossing movie in the DC Extended Universe franchise and no DCEU movie has generated greater than $400 million at the international field workplace since that movie was launched.
The franchise has suffered from lackluster quality, as critics have balked at CGI-heavy motion sequences and disjointed makes an attempt at bringing heroes collectively for team-ups. Pandemic-era restrictions additionally led to smaller field workplace openings in 2020 and 2021.
Even as these restrictions have lifted and audiences have returned to theaters, the DCEU has struggled to lure again even its most ardent followers. This was exacerbated earlier this 12 months when Warner Bros. Discovery introduced that the entire franchise would be rebooted in 2025 by the newly minted heads of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safran.
The deliberate reboot dismayed followers, who imagine that “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Blue Beetle,” “The Flash” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” — all launched after the announcement — would don’t have any connection to future DC tasks and weren’t must-see theatrical experiences.
One brilliant spot for the “Aquaman” sequel is that it faces restricted competitors in theaters subsequent week and may benefit from the upcoming holidays, as college holidays have mother and father in search of out-of-home leisure.
“While so-called superhero fatigue could also be in play for a lot of movies of the style in 2023, ensuing in lower-than-expected opening weekend outcomes, movies that open in late December resembling ‘Aquaman 2’ typically play the lengthy recreation and draw their audiences all through the vacation and into the new 12 months,” mentioned Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.