Blue Beetle's Brutal Opening Weekend Is Very Bad News For DC
This weekend, Warner Bros. released its third 2023 movie based on a DC Comics property in the form of "Blue Beetle." The good news, at least in terms of headline-grabbing optics for the studio, is that it now goes down in history as the movie that finally kicked "Barbie" out of the number one spot at the box office. This is doubly good for Warner Bros., as both movies hail from them. The bad news is that the numbers, relatively speaking, are still bad for DC's latest, even though it debuted atop the charts.
Director Angel Manuel Soto's "Blue Beetle" made $25 million domestically, which was enough to unseat "Barbie," which pulled in $21 million in its fifth weekend. The problem is that the DC Comics adaptation cost a reported $104 million to produce — before marketing. While that's relatively cheap for a big comic book movie, it's still firmly in blockbuster territory. Barring miraculous legs in the weeks to come, the superhero flick is all but assured to be DC's third flop of the year, and one of the worst-performing DCEU movies to date. It's far from heroic, to put it lightly.
To make matters worse, the movie made just $18 million internationally from more than 60 different markets. That's even less than "Wonder Woman 1984," which was released at the absolute height of the pandemic. All told, "Blue Beetle" debuted to $43 million worldwide. Even if we give the film generous legs and say it can pull off a 3X multiplier of its opening weekend total, it would finish with around $130 million, plus whatever it earns in the countries it has yet to open in. The absolute best-case scenario? $200 million worldwide, give or take. That's not gonna cut it.
Three flops in a row
Given that theaters keep around half of the money generated from ticket sales, Warner Bros. will struggle to recoup the production budget and will be left in the red thanks to the marketing spend. Granted, over time, this movie could become profitable, but the profit would certainly be modest. At very best, this could be spun as a relative disappointment and not a full-blown disaster. That's not what any studio wants from a big superhero movie. Warner Bros., in particular, is in desperate need of a win in this department.
Earlier this year, WB and DC suffered a terrible defeat as "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" earned just $132 million worldwide against a reported $125 million budget. Without hyperbole, it ranks as one of the biggest bombs in superhero movie history. Given how well-liked the first "Shazam!" was, it was especially surprising. Then there's "The Flash," which was hyped up a great deal in the lead-up to its release over the summer before crashing and burning after its opening weekend. The film finished its run with just $268 million worldwide against a hulking $200 million budget.
Amazingly enough, DC hasn't had an out-and-out hit outside of "The Batman" since "Shazam!" back in 2019. Granted, "Birds of Prey," "Wonder Woman 1984," and "The Suicide Squad" were all hampered greatly by the pandemic, but that doesn't make it any easier to swallow. And "Black Adam" failed to live up to expectations on its own terms. Meanwhile, "The Batman" ($766 million box office/$200 million budget) had the benefit of being about one of the world's most popular superheroes and being completely disconnected from any major continuity. There's likely something to be said for that.
The pressure is on for the new DC Universe
In short, the overall picture for DC is not a great one. In fairness, Marvel is having its share of troubles as well, as "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" fell short of expectations and the TV shows on Disney+ have been hit or miss, while possibly adding a sense of fatigue for certain viewers. Not to mention that director James Gunn's "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" was the end of something, rather than the beginning of something, making its success a little bittersweet.
Speaking of Gunn, he is now the co-head of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, and they are getting ready to reboot the DC Universe in 2025 with "Superman: Legacy." To say that pressure is mounting for Gunn and Safran to deliver would be a dramatic understatement. The two have already announced an ambitious slate of movies and TV shows. But will audiences even care about anything beyond "The Batman 2" by 2025? It's beginning to look like the DC brand is truly falling out of favor.
The only hope on the horizon to right the ship is "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," which is currently due to hit theaters in December. That is, assuming Warner Bros. doesn't delay it due to the ongoing writer and actor strikes that have shut down Hollywood and hurt the box office. They need the cast, including the very lovable Jason Momoa, to launch a press tour for this one. If "Aquaman" also fails, Gunn and Safran have a Herculean task ahead of them, while WB will have a lot of lost revenue to make up.
"Blue Beetle" is in theaters now.