The Big Picture
- Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom may boast a smaller box office gross than its predecessor but still managed as one of the highest-grossing DCEU films.
- The superhero genre has seen a number of declining returns at the box office.
- Despite challenges in production, mixed reviews, and superhero genre uncertainties, the Aquaman sequel proved popular.
Ahead of its streaming debut on Max starting next week, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is poised to close out its (surprisingly robust) theatrical run. The film opened in December and braved waves of competition on its way to a respectable haul at the global box office. In fact, the superhero sequel is the most successful DC Extended Universe film since its own predecessor, 2018’s Aquaman.
Also starring Jason Momoa and directed by James Wan, the first Aquaman holds the honor of being the highest-grossing film based on a DC character, with a lifetime haul of $1.1 billion at the global box office. With $124 million domestically and a further $309 million in overseas markets, Aquaman 2’s cumulative gross stands at $423 million worldwide. While this is less than half of what the first film made, it's obvious that the tides have turned against superhero cinema in recent years.
And it looked like everybody, including Warner Bros. and Momoa himself, had little faith in the movie prior to its release. The studio was dealing with a string of DC duds, one of the film's lead stars was involved in a scandal, and word around town was that the 15-year blockbuster run that the superhero genre had enjoyed was coming to an end. Even rival Marvel was struggling with the under-performance of films such as Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and more recently, The Marvels, which holds the unenviable distinction of being the lowest-grossing installment in the studio’s history.
DCEU Films Since 2018 | Global Box Office | Rotten Tomatoes Score |
|---|---|---|
Aquaman 2 | $433,647,082 | 34% |
Blue Beetle | $128,777,017 | 78% |
The Flash | $266,550,332 | 63% |
Shazam! 2 | $132,276,175 | 49% |
Black Adam | $390,455,088 | 38% |
The Suicide Squad | $167,097,737 | 90% |
Wonder Woman 2 | $166,360,232 | 58% |
Birds of Prey | $201,005,552 | 78% |
Shazam! | $363,563,907 | 90% |
The DCEU Ended Its Run On a High Note
CloseFor the now-defunct DCEU, things were even more dire. The spiral began with Black Adam in 2022. The film was briefly touted as some sort of soft reboot for the franchise, with Dwayne Johnson assuming a leadership position. But after a box office run that couldn’t crack the $400 million mark worldwide against a reported budget of over $250 million, it was decided that the franchise would be rebooted from the ground up, under the stewardship of new CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran. The remaining films from the previous regimes received low-key releases. Both Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Blue Beetle concluded their runs with less than $150 million worldwide each. But W.B. hedged its bets on The Flash, building buzz for it by repeatedly describing it as one of the best superhero films ever made. The strategy backfired, and the film ended up becoming one of the biggest bombs in recent memory, grossing $270 million worldwide against a reported budget of over $200 million.
Aquaman 2also reportedly cost more than $200 million to produce and had a particularly difficult post-production marred by behind-the-scenes troubles and several rounds of reshoots. Reviews for the film were also less enthusiastic than those for the first Aquaman, but such is the enduring popularity of Momoa in the role that Aquaman 2 stayed afloat despite the odds. You can watch the film on Max beginning February 27, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Arthur Curry, also known as Aquaman, embarks on an epic quest to a mysterious lost kingdom that could hold the key to saving Atlantis from a looming danger. Teaming up with allies old and new, he faces powerful adversaries and uncovers secrets long buried beneath the ocean's depths.
Release Date December 22, 2023 Director James Wan Cast Jason Momoa , Yahya Abdul-Mateen II , Amber Heard , Patrick Wilson , Dolph Lundgren , Temuera MorrisonncG1vNJzZmibn6G5qrDEq2Wcp51krrLBwKaYp2ViYrStu8Gao2aan616sLLFopqeZWRogW65yKWjoqeeZA%3D%3D