Aquaman 2 Early Box Office Projections Continue Disastrous 2023 For DC Movies

Early box office projections for DC Studios’ upcoming Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom don’t spell good news for the final film in DC’s live-action 2023 release schedule. Aquaman quickly became the DCEU’s most popular and profitable project after its 2018 release, grossing over $1 billion at the global box office, and setting up Jason Momoa for a bright future in the franchise as Arthur Curry, a.k.a. the titular Aquaman. While Aquaman’s success made the development of a sequel inevitable, the fact that DC Studios’ Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is releasing as the final project before the DCEU’s reboot into the DC Universe means the film may already be suffering.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is scheduled for release on December 22, 2023, marking the final superhero film of the year, and the final project in the DC Extended Universe. Shortly after James Gunn and Peter Safran’s hiring as co-CEOs of the new DC Studios in November 2022, they announced that the DCEU would be rebooted into the DC Universe, which unfortunately had a detrimental impact on DC projects that were pending release. DC Studios’ 2023 releases have been plagued with problems, and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom appears to be continuing this trend, as early projections for James Wan’s upcoming sequel don’t spell good news.

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Before Aquaman 2: The Lost Kingdom even releases, it has to overcome controversies and waning fan interest as the last entry in the DCEU to succeed.

Aquaman 2’s Early Box Office Projections Point To Another Major Bomb

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has been produced on a budget of $205 million, meaning the upcoming project needs to make at least double that – $410 million – in order to break even. In December 2022, Variety reported that James Wan had his budget for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom reshoots reduced after several rounds of reshoots already bumped up the budget. These reshoots were in response to test screenings that evidently didn’t garner the response that DC Studios was hoping for. While Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’s budget isn’t the most sizable for DC Studios, it does spell bad news when considering the film’s early box office projections.

According to Box Office Pro, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is on track to make between $32 and $42 million domestically in its opening weekend, with a total range of between $105 and $168 million. Taking into account the film’s $205 million budget, these projected numbers are abysmal, and hint at Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom being a monumental box office bomb for Warner Bros. and DC Studios. It’s possible Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom could be a surprise win for DC Studios, just as 2018’s Aquaman was, though with pre-sales tracking 62% behind 2022’s reviled Black Adam, the future doesn’t look bright for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

All 4 DC Movies Released In 2023 Have Disappointed At The Box Office

Based on the early box office projections for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, it seems that all four of DC Studios’ 2023 theatrical releases will achieve box office bomb status. Hot on the tail of 2022’s Black Adam, the first of DC Studios’ post-COVID-19 releases, which was also a box office bomb, Shazam! Fury of the Gods released in February 2023 as a sequel to 2019’s Shazam!. On a budget of $125 million, Shazam! Fury of the Gods grossed only $133.8 million, far removed from the marginal financial success of the original 2019 film. However, Shazam! Fury of the Gods was far from the biggest disappointment of the year.

Released in June 2023, The Flash was set up to be one of the DCEU’s biggest and most profitable projects, yet became perhaps the franchise’s biggest failure. Grossing only $270.6 million on a budget of $220 million, The Flash became one of the biggest box office bombs ever – not just in superhero cinema – losing Warner Bros. a suspected $200 million. This roll-on effect had an impact on August 2023’s positively-received Blue Beetle, which became the DCEU’s lowest-grossing project with a total of $129.3 million on a budget of $104 million, souring Xolo Maridueña’s live-action debut. Unfortunately, it seems Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom won’t perform much better.

Why DC Movies Are Struggling At The Box Office This Year

There are several factors that could have damaged the performance of DC Studios’ 2023 releases, but perhaps the biggest is the fact that Gunn and Safran announced the DC Universe reboot before these films hit theaters. With the franchise set to make some major changes, including recasting many actors and starting some storylines from scratch, there was perhaps no need for viewers to rush to theaters to catch these latest releases, as they will have no impact on the future of the DC Universe. These projects perhaps also suffered from the “superhero fatigue” that appears to have been plaguing the Marvel Cinematic Universe in recent years, too.

2023 was also a year packed full of production delays, pauses, and reshuffles, as the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes brought Hollywood to a halt for several months. These strikes meant that actors weren’t capable of promoting their projects, which had a detrimental impact on the performances of several DC Studios and Marvel Studios projects alike. The strikes came to a conclusion in September and November 2023, respectively, which may mean that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom could achieve greater success than its 2023 predecessors, though with more attention being thrown on the DC Universe’s future from 2025’s Superman: Legacy onwards, hopes aren’t high for the upcoming project.