With Blue Beetle‘s terrible box office performance, co-CEO of DC Studios, James Gunn, needs to do something about the DC franchise as it’s slowly falling apart. Ever since he took over, fans have complained that all the films have been a major disappointment, but there is still time as five feature films and five television series for HBO Max have been confirmed under the leadership of Gunn and Peter Safran.
Gunn has confirmed that Blue Beetle is the first DCU superhero, but so far, things are looking bad. Initially, the film managed to take the first spot with its domestic earnings on its opening day, but it is now projected that it will drop to the third spot and will witness a massive drop in viewer count compared to its opening weekend.
Blue Beetle will Witness a Massive Box Office Drop
Blue Beetle is the beginning of filmmaker James Gunn‘s new DCU. He has previously confirmed that Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle is the first DCU character. With its worldwide release on 18th August, the film initially showed good signs as it earned more than Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, officially dethroning it after four weeks.
The film opened to an estimated $25 million in North America, which was surprisingly good. However, it is now projected that it will witness a drastic 61% drop in its audience and will drop down to the third spot. Fans also joked on social media that Gunn now probably regrets letting Snyder go in times like this, as Snyder’s Snyderverse was a massive success, at least financially.
Is the Poor Performance Due to Less Publicity?
Due to the ongoing Hollywood Writers and Actors’ strike, the film was barely promoted by its main cast. It is one of the lowest openings among any title in the DC Extended Universe, so Gunn definitely needs to do something about this.
There are some positive things about the movie as well, It is officially Hollywood’s first live-action superhero film that features a Latino protagonist as the creators aimed to give representation to Latino artists. It has also done the work of laying down the foundation of the new DCU.
Blue Beetle Received Decent Reviews
Poor box office collection doesn’t mean that Blue Beetle is a terrible film, it managed to earn a B+ on CinemaScore and 77% on Rotten Tomatoes. The main question is: Will the film be able to earn more than its production budget of $100 million? Only time will tell.
This is only the beginning as Gunn has big plans for his DCU. So far, it has been confirmed that five feature films and five television series are under production. Apart from this, fans are super excited to see Gunn’s reboot of Superman in 2025’s Superman: Legacy. This “soft reboot” may save the franchise but as of now, the pace is quite slow.
Source: Twitter/X
