Can Blue Beetle Bust DC's Bad Streak At The Box Office? An Investigation
DC has had a bit of a rough go as of late, dating back to "Black Adam" not crossing the $400 million mark at the global box office in 2022, and as a result, failing to change the hierarchy of power in the DC Universe. This year hasn't helped, as both "The Flash" and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" bombed spectacularly (more on that in a bit).
A new hero, however, hopes to save the day and bring about a reversal of fortune for Warner Bros. and the fabled comic book brand — that's right, "Blue Beetle" is arriving in a theater near you very soon. But will this new superhero be able to defeat this brutal losing streak? Maybe!
Early box office tracking (per Deadline) has "Blue Beetle" taking in around $30 million on its opening weekend domestically. That's certainly on the low end for a superhero movie, but it's also an improvement over what some have been predicting. Box Office Pro, for example, has the movie opening in the $13 to $18 million range. Even if we take the optimistic stance and say that director Angel Manuel Soto's take on the DC Comics superhero comes in at the top end of current projections, it will still need a lot of help in the weeks that follow to be considered an out-and-out success.
An opening in that range would put it in line with "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" ($30 million) and "Birds of Prey" ($33 million). The former is not good company to be in, as the "Shazam!" sequel ended up topping out at just $132 million worldwide against a $125 million budget. "Birds of Prey" finished with a somewhat disappointing $201 million, but it was released mere weeks before the pandemic shut down theaters around the world, which kneecapped its potential earnings.
New superheroes rarely work anymore
Whatever the case, with a reported $120 million budget, "Blue Beetle," which stars Xolo Maridueña as the title character, would need long legs at the domestic box office and a lot of help from overseas to become a hit. With a budget like that, Warner Bros. probably needs it to make $300 million worldwide, give or take, to break even. It certainly doesn't help that the ongoing writer's strike is preventing actors from being able to promote any of their work right now. All the more reason for Hollywood to come back to the table and present a fair deal for both actors and writers.
The other consideration to make here is that new superheroes have had a lot of trouble breaking out in recent years. "The Flash" had previously been introduced, but his first solo movie crashed and burned this summer, topping out at $268 million to date against a $200 million budget. Again, brutal for DC. We also mentioned "Black Adam" failing to generate much interest last year from moviegoers relative to its big budget. But it's not just DC, as Marvel has struggled in this area as well.
"Eternals" scarcely passed $400 million worldwide in 2021, though the pandemic was still a non-trivial factor. At the same time, "Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings" ($432 million worldwide) is arguably the only successful launch of a new superhero franchise in recent memory. Heck, even Vin Diesel's "Bloodshot" topped out at $39 million but, again, it was hampered greatly by the pandemic. It now falls to "Blue Beetle" to break the streak.
The cast for the film includes Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Belissa Escobedo, and Harvey Guillén.
"Blue Beetle" hits theaters on August 18, 2023.