5 Reasons Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom Sank At The Box Office
2023 will go down as the year that the superhero movie bubble finally popped. Dating back to Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" in 2002, Hollywood has been chasing the comic book movie dragon and, particularly since 2008 when the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched with "Iron Man," these movies have been the meat and potatoes of the box office. But this year's only outright successful live-action superhero film was "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" ($845 million worldwide). That narrative is not going to change with the release of "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom," sad to say.
The final entry in the DCEU, which launched in 2013 with Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel," was the big holiday release this year heading into the Christmas weekend. While the original "Aquaman" was the highest-grossing DC movie in history (making $1.15 billion worldwide in 2018), the sequel is not going to repeat that success. Director James Wan's follow-up did debut atop the charts over the weekend, yes, earning $27.7 million through Sunday and $40 million when counting the Monday Christmas holiday, per The Numbers. That is a far cry from the original, which opened to $67 million.
Jason Momoa's second solo turn as the water-dwelling DC Comics hero also opened soft overseas, taking in $80 million. The original did nearly 71% of its business overseas, with a $93 million opening weekend in China alone. So, it's a rough start for a superhero blockbuster with a budget north of $200 million. But what went wrong? How did the sequel to such a massive film fall so far short of expectations? Join us as we try and solve this unfortunate puzzle as the wreckage of DC's latest disaster washes ashore.
The reviews are very bad
First and foremost, there has been nothing by way of positive buzz for the film up to this point. "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" currently carries a lousy 36% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes. (You can read /Film's 7 out of 10 review of the film right here.) Granted, the audience score is better at 79% but the B CinemaScore is middling and doesn't suggest a lot of word-of-mouth that will drive on-the-fence moviegoers to theaters in the weeks to come.
Yes, the holiday season generally leads to longer legs for blockbusters, and "The Lost Kingdom" will benefit from a lack of competition in January. That said, it's still going to be lucky to clear $150 million domestically, whereas the original legged out to $335 million. Mind you, we won't pretend that DC Comics movies have never overcome iffy reviews (2016's "Suicide Squad" made $747 million worldwide and even won an Oscar), but in the pandemic era, audience reception is arguably more important than it's ever been.
Too little, too late
Another factor that is worthy of discussion is the lengthy five-year gap between installments. Back in 2018, superhero movies could simply do no wrong. That stretch leading up to "Avengers: Infinity War" and in the immediate aftermath of "Avengers: Endgame" was truly remarkable, and "Aquaman" was right in the sweet spot. Yes, Warner Bros. very much wanted to get a sequel going quickly. However, it had to balance other DC movies that were in the works, talent schedules, and the pandemic, which was completely out of its control. Be that as it may, all these factors (but especially the pandemic) worked together to delay the film well beyond its originally intended release window.
We can't strictly blame the pandemic here, though. There was also Discovery's acquisition of WarnerMedia, extensive changes made to the film during post-production, and other issues that kept kicking the film's release date further down the line. Had "The Lost Kingdom" come out last year or even in December 2021, who knows? Instead, it arrived years too late and gave general audiences enough time to move on. This may be one of the single biggest casualties of the pandemic in some ways.
The looming DC Universe reboot
Undoubtedly, the looming reboot of the DC Universe (which will happen under the direction of DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran) was the oversized elephant in the room when it came to "The Lost Kingdom" and its release. The first slate of DCU projects was announced early this year and made it clear that Warner Bros. was moving on from the DC Extended Universe started by Zack Snyder. Perhaps average moviegoers who don't spend a lot of time online aren't too aware of the whole thing, but fans who eat, live, and breathe this stuff? It had an impact.
For certain audience members, this became a "What's the point?" movie, as all eyes are now on 2025's "Superman: Legacy" and beyond. Jason Momoa will no longer be Aquaman. Gal Gadot will no longer be Wonder Woman. Ben Affleck will no longer be Batman. Henry Cavill will no longer be Superman. The dawn of a new DC era is upon us, and that made this movie feel like the odd man out. Ideally, people will choose to see a movie because they might like it, but in the modern age of cinematic universes, that's not always the case anymore.
A lot of negative online chatter
This one pairs with the DCU reboot conversation, but beyond that, "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" had to endure (and combat) an unusual amount of negativity online in the months leading up to its release. There was a great deal of drama surrounding Amber Heard and her role as Mera (spurred by her highly public trial with her ex-husband Johnny Depp), as well as reports of extensive reshoots and conflict behind the scenes. Rather than excitement for a sequel to a $1 billion crowd-pleaser, it felt like an endless parade of tabloid-esque headlines was driving the narrative around this movie.
Further fueling the negativity was the fact that "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "The Flash," and "Blue Beetle" all seriously underperformed at the box office against high expectations this year. That put further pressure on "The Lost Kingdom" to make up for those losses. All the while, WB, Wan, and Momoa were trying to paint the best picture they could against a noisy backdrop. This movie was very much put in an unfortunate situation well beyond circumstances dictated by a global pandemic that nobody had any control over.
Audience tastes are changing
People seem to get touchy about this but above all else, it seems that audience tastes are moving away from superheroes for the first time in a long time. The presumed era of superhero dominance is officially over. Are superhero movies still going to be successful sometimes? Absolutely. Just look at "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" or, to a lesser degree, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem." But four DC movies flopped this year, and Disney suffered a very painful flop with "The Marvels" just last month. Again, that was a big sequel to a movie that made more than $1 billion. Sure, the Screen Actors Guild strike got in the way of promotional cycles for some of these movies, but that hardly explains the steep drop-off we're seeing.
Looking even more broadly, many audience members who used to go to the movies before the pandemic have still yet to return. And those who used to go to theaters more regularly are now being more selective. Blame the advent of streaming and the rise of premium VOD. Blame home theaters that have become so damn good the need for the theatrical experience is dampened. A variety of factors are at play here but audience habits are changing. That's something Hollywood needs to make its peace with and combat in the coming years. This movie's performance is evidence of that.
"Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" is in theaters now.