Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom had one of the worst opening weekends ever for a DCEU film, despite being criticized by the majority of the country’s reviewers as one of the worst.
With an estimated $28 million, the sequel failed to even reach the low end of projections, which were for an opening of $32 million to $42 million.
With Christmas Day falling on Monday, the picture is expected to earn $40 million in total over the four-day holiday weekend.
Even still, Wonder Woman 1984 ($16.4 million), Blue Beetle ($25 million), and The Suicide Squad ($26.2 million) all debuted with less money than this one, making it one of the worst debuts in DCEU history.
After being panned by most of the nation’s critics as one of the worst DCEU movies , Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom debuted with one of the worst opening weekends
The sequel – which was being projected for a $32 million to $42 million opening, couldn’t even hit the low end of the projecions, with an estimated $28 million
During its first weekend of release, Aquaman 2 earned a respectable $7,582 per screen average across 3,706 cinemas.
When compared to its predecessor, the 2018 film Aquaman made a $67.8 million premiere. The sequel is nothing like that.
It would go on to become the only DCEU film to break the $1 billion mark, taking in $335.1 million domestically and $1.152 billion globally.
Given its weak start and a purported $200 million budget, the film is probably going to be a huge failure.
It performed better in overseas markets, earning an extra $80 million for a $120 million global launch.
Aquaman 2 opened in 3,706 theaters and pulled in a decent $7,582 per-screen average for the opening weekend
Ultimately, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom defeated Wonka, the champion from the previous weekend, which dropped 54.6% to take second place with $17.7 million.
At the box office, Aquaman managed to repel a number of newbies during one of the final weekends of the year.
The animated comedy Migration from Universal opened in 3,761 theaters and brought in $12.3 million, with an average of $3,273 per screen.
With only $6.2 million from 3,055 theaters and a pitiful $2,040 per-screen average, the Sony romantic comedy Anyone But You opened in fourth place. Salaar ($5.4 million, 802 locations, $6,834 per-screen average) completed the top five.
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes ($3.1 million, 2,509 theaters, $1,255 per-screen average), Godzilla Minus One ($2.7 million, 1,965 theaters, $1,394 per-screen average), The Boy and the Heron ($3.1 million, 1,580 theaters, $1,996 per-screen average), and Poor Things ($2.1 million, 800 theaters, $2,637 per-screen average) round out the top 10.
After the weekend, three new films, The Color Purple, Ferrari, and The Color Purple musical, open in theaters on Christmas Day.
Barbie has easily become the highest-grossing film of 2023 as the year comes to an end, earning $636.2 million at the US box office.