The upcoming DC movie Blue Beetle starring Xolo Maridueña has been the talk of the town since the official trailer of the movie was released two months ago. Recently the studio released the final trailer of the movie, which is set to hit the box office next month. With the release of its second and final trailer, the movie has surrounded itself by backlash for referring to the DC superhero as fascist. This has received mixed reactions from fans as many have raised objections over one of the characters’ comments on Batman.
It has led many to assume that similar to the Ezra Miller starrer, it would also be a box-office disappointment for the studio. And industry insiders have now said that the movie needs to gross double its budget to be profitable at the box office and for the studio.
How Much Does Blue Beetle Need to Gross to Be Profitable?
DC Studios has been in a tricky place when it comes to the box office collection of its movies. The 2023 DC titles, including Shazam! 2 and The Flash struggled at the box office. While the situation for Blue Beetle could be taken as different from the previous two releases, as James Gunn has confirmed that Xolo Maridueña’s Blue Beetle is the first “DCU character.”
However, it is also believed that it would suffer the same fate as Shazam 2 and The Flash at the box office. According to industry insider Daniel Ritchman, the film needs to gross double its total budget at the box office to be profitable for the studio.
The budget for Angel Manuel Soto’s film is reportedly over $100 million. So it would need to gross over $200 million worldwide at the box office to make profits for the studio. While it does not seem too big of a target for the movie to fulfill, things did not seem favorable toward it.
The backlash about calling Batman fascist continues, and there have also been arguments about the studio’s marketing strategy for the movie. The same was followed with Shazam! Fury of the Gods and the movie failed at the box office.
Blue Beetle Expected to be a Notable Hit For DC
Some of the last few DC projects have not been able to live up to their expectations despite the huge anticipation surrounding them. Dwayne Johnson hyped up his DC feature and his passion project Black Adam so much. However, it still failed at the box office as it was able to make $393 million worldwide.
As per Variety, the movie needed to make $600 million to be profitable. The Shazam! sequel also had a hard time at the box office, hardly making $60 million domestically. And the same was followed with The Flash. Amid this, Blue Beetle is expected to be a notable hit for the studio.
The movie is expected to gross over $250 to $300 million worldwide and around $130 to $150 million at the domestic box office. As James Gunn confirmed that the character has a future in the new DCU, it could also lead fans to see and support the movie.
Blue Beetle is set to release on 18 August 2023.
Source: Twitter
