DCEU’s final movie Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, featuring Jason Momoa appears to be struggling at the box office to bring the holiday cheer. Despite fans waiting for five years since 2018, when the first Aquaman movie was released, the sequel appears to already have a worse start than MCU’s The Marvels.
The DCEU has been plagued by underperforming entries in 2023, as The Flash, Blue Beetle, and other projects struggled mightily at the box office. Now, with Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom tracking to have a lower opening weekend than Marvel Studios’ biggest bomb, it seems the studio is legitimately doomed.
Aquaman 2 Initial Predictions VS Box Office Collection
After the success of the 2018 standalone movie Aquaman, DCEU had been hoping to come up with a sequel in 2022. However, the Jason Momoa starring sequel’s release date had to be pushed back to December 2023, due to Amber Heard’s high-profile defamation lawsuit, controversies, and the Hollywood strikes.
Eventually, after five years of waiting, fans were presented with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, as DCEU’s last project. But surprisingly, as per Deadline, the domestic box office projections for the opening weekend of the film were estimated to be around $40M. In comparison to its predecessor, which earned $67M, Aquaman 2 appeared to be losing to its own goals.
Well, not just that. Aquaman 2 not only appeared to be losing to its own predecessor but also to MCU’s biggest bomb, The Marvels. According to reports, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s four-day opening weekend projection of $40M, counts way less than The Marvels’ $46M three-day opening. This appears to be a disappointment as DCEU’s final film.
Also read: Are Superhero Movies Dead? Jason Momoa, Brie Larson Prove the End is Nigh
Jason Momoa’s Sequel Had a Worse Start Than The Marvels
Being DCEU’s last movie, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom was supposed to make an impact on the audiences. But unfortunately, it is now being compared with MCU’s worst box office debut, The Marvels. Even in that comparison to Brie Larson‘s movie, Momoa’s sequel seems to have lost its theatrical grace to the lowest-grossing MCU movie, ever.
The first installment of Aquaman released in 2018, earned $9M for its Thursday previews, but now, its sequel only made $4.5M at the domestic box office, as per Variety reports. Making a worse start than MCU’s The Marvels which earned $6.6M from Thursday previews, Aquaman 2 appears to be heading towards a disappointing run.
Nonetheless, amid such a heartbreaking struggle from the DCEU project, Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom seems to be heading towards an encouraging international projection. The James Wan-helmed movie is expected to earn an estimated $110M overseas by Christmas Eve. Around $75M and $80M of that gross is predicted to come from a 73% market launch in foreign territories.
