Blue Beetle, which was stupidly sold as an affirmative action project instead of an exciting, unifying, good time at the movies, is suffering a slow box office death both at home and abroad.
After two weekends in release, The First *yawn* Hispanic Superhero Movie has grossed a measly $46 million domestic and only an additional $35 million overseas. With a pathetic $82 million worldwide gross, Blue Beetle isn’t coming close to breaking even.
Between the production and promotion budget, Warner Bros. likely spent around $200 million. That means Blue Beetle would have to gross somewhere around $400 million to simply break even. That is not going to happen.
Even the fanboy sites have started the ten count:
Last week, Blue Beetle opened to an underwhelming $25.5 million at the domestic box office, releasing just after an era when most superhero stories that flew towards the big screen were able to find high numbers within their ticket sales. Jaime Reyes’ (Xolo Maridueña) adventure hasn’t been able to attract viewers internationally either, with the movie failing to earn $100 million from all over the world after two weekends of playing in most viewing formats available in theaters. Not even Victoria Kord (Susan Sarandon) could plan such an unfortunate outcome for the titular hero.
Blue Beetle was one of the final DC movies Warner Bros. had scheduled for their current version of the franchise. While Gunn has previously stated that Jaime Reyes could appear in projects belonging to his vision for the brand, the first official movie set in the new universe will be Superman: Legacy, directed by Gunn himself and currently scheduled to premiere in the summer of 2025. There are still a couple of weeks left until Blue Beetle‘s box office performance can be seen in the big picture but, for now, things aren’t looking great for the young hero.
Elsewhere at the box office, Barbie and Oppenheimer continue to enjoy epic runs. As of today, Barbie sits at $595 million. Oppenheimer jumped a smidge over $300 million. Barbie’s worldwide haul is a jaw-dropping $1.34 billion. Oppenehimer’s worldwide haul is creeping up to $800 million. After six weeks of release, Barbie earned $17 million, and Oppenheimer earned $9 million. We’re a long way from closing the books on those.
After grossing $2 million in weekend eight(!), Sound of Freedom sits at an incredible $181 million. In the late innings, Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One is holding pretty well. It only dropped 24 percent week to week after seven weeks of release. Currently, the Tom Cruise blockbuster has grossed $168 million domestic and $552 million worldwide. This is not great or anything close to breaking even. I wonder if Paramount regrets greenlighting a two-parter?
The Disney Grooming Institute’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Kathleen Kennedy has No Talent remains doornail dead with just $379 million worldwide, which doesn’t even cover its production and advertising budget.
Maybe Disney should stop destroying our heroes and having them “saved” by smug, sexless girl-bosses with bodies like 14-year-old boys.
Just an idea.
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