The first film in the newly established DCU, Blue Beetle, opened to favorable reviews from both fans and critics alike. Despite being DC’s most positively reviewed film since The Batman 2022, the box office numbers are disappointing for the Ángel Manuel Soto-directed film. This scenario for the film was predicted earlier as the film promotions took a hit due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes.
Xolo Maridueña stars as Jaime Reyes aka Blue Beetle who comes in possession of a suit of armor when an alien Scarab uses his body as its host. Fans are hoping to see if the box office will catch up with the positive word-of-mouth for the “fun but familiar” DCU film.
Also Read: Blue Beetle Review: Representation Strong in Fun but Generic DC Flick
Blue Beetle’s Disappointing Thursday Night Preview Record
Blue Beetle comes after two disappointing flicks from DC earlier this year. However, the film’s Thursday night preview collection fell short of the other two films. Shazam! Fury of the Gods collected $3.4 million, and The Flash brought in $9.7 million during their respective Thursday night previews. However, Blue Beetle only managed to collect a disheartening $3.3 million.
The numbers are also DC’s lowest since 2020 when Wonder Woman 1984 was released without a Thursday preview due to Covid. It is notable that even the James Gunn film, The Suicide Squad, collected $4.1 million despite having a simultaneous release on HBO Max. The poor marketing for the film combined with low expectations from DC after back-to-back flops might be the reasons for the bad opening numbers.
But, it’s expected that the film, featuring the first Latinx superhero, will collect $25-$32 million during its opening weekend, a figure on par with Shazam! 2. These numbers also mean Blue Beetle will replace Barbie to take the weekly number one spot in the box office. Since no major releases are scheduled for some time, the film could still win it big for DCU.
Blue Beetle Is A Critical Success
With a 78% score on Rotten Tomatoes, Blue Beetle is proving to be a critical success, providing DCU with a much-needed positive start. This is good news for James Gunn’s DC after the previous outings from the studio – The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Black Adam – scored only 64%, 49%, & 39% respectively.
When compared to the DCEU movies, Blue Beetle‘s rating places it behind only Wonder Woman 2017, The Suicide Squad, Shazam! 2019, and Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey. It is safe to say that the mouth publicity will definitely bolster the film from its current state. The Latinx representation also seems to be working in favor of the movie.
Alongside Xolo Maridueña, the film also features Susan Sarandon as the main villain, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, and George Lopez. Blue Beetle is now playing in theaters.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
