The DCEU is ending on a low note. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has sunk during its Christmas opening weekend at the box office. Domestically, it grossed $38 million during the four-day holiday weekend, including its $4.5 million previews, putting it below The Marvels, which bombed when it opened at $46 million without the help of a holiday weekend. Internationally, it is at $80 million, which puts it in a good place to surpass its competitor’s latest team-up movie’s entire international box office as it ended at $115 million.
DCEU Ends as a Sinking Ship After Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Has Disastrous Christmas Opening Weekend at the Box Office
It is not all woes for James Wan’s latest film for DC. Beyond doing better internationally than The Marvels, it is finding some ground in China. While well below the first film, it is one of the better-performing superhero movies post-2019 before COVID changed theater attendance. It has gone over $30 million in China to give it a significant boost overseas.
It was a different world when the first film splashed into theaters during the holiday season in 2018. Domestically, it opened at $67 million. The first standalone film for the character in the DCEU ended its dominant run at $1.1 billion worldwide.
Warner Bros. did not have a disappointing Christmas weekend at the box office, despite Aquaman disappointing the studio. The Color Purple ended up being the real winner as it was number one after the four-day weekend. The film’s domestic opening danced onto $18.2 million despite being in 700 fewer theaters than the DC blockbuster.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will continue its run at the box office into 2024, so we will see where it ends up. Now that it is out into the world, we will have to wait until 2025 for the beginning of the DCU, run by James Gunn, who will debut the new franchise on the big screen with Superman: Legacy.
