The fate of DCEU is still hanging on a thread. The box office failure of its most recent The Flash starring controversial actor Ezra Miller in the lead has been a clear indication for DC that the studio needs to reevaluate its plans for the next releases.
DC has yet to endure the box office trauma. James Gunn’s magic wand is yet to work but the fans are expecting a sustainable future of the universe. However, the box office projection of the next DC slate is even more disappointing than The Flash.
Also read: Who is Blue Beetle – Cobra Kai Star Xolo Mariduena’s DCU Superhero Powers Explained
Blue Beetle’s Box Office Projection
Andrés Muschietti-directed The Flash has several grounds for disappointing box office numbers. However, Angel Manuel Soto’s Blue Beetle, DC’s first Latina-led movie is set to be the all-time box office flop from the studio.
Box Office Pro has published its box office forecast of the DC movie ahead of its release but it was projected to be an all-time low-earring movie under the banner of the blue brand. It was a disappointing continuation of The Flash which was made with more than $200 million and a whopping sum of money for its marketing, only earning $268 million worldwide.
As per the analyst, Blue Beetle is projected to open around $12-17 million domestically which could lead to $27-55 million in total earnings. The projected earnings set the movie even below the December 2020 pandemic release of Wonder Woman 1984 which held an all-time record low of $16.7 million.
Of course, Blue Beetle is one of the cheapest movies from the studio which was made with $120 million, slightly above the bar from Birds of Prey‘s $82 million and Shazam!‘s $85 million. Still, the box office early prediction is concerning for the studio as it struggling to recover from devastating back-to-back failure.
The Future of Blue Beetle in DCEU
Despite the disappointing box office projection, Blue Beetle is hopeful as the has still a few cards left to play. Primarily, the character has not been represented on screen before and fans could embrace the character as it is fresh. However, it would be interesting to see the future of the character in DC.
Of course, the theatrical debut was a great upgrade for the character as it was originally planned for the HBO Max release. “That is true, at the beginning of it. Once we started writing the script and I started to create concept art, the studio allowed me to run free in my creativity,” Soto told Collider.
“Unbeknownst to them and to me, at the time, they were able to see the promise of how we pictured a city, and how we really wanted the city to be, and the bigger realm of this cultural zeitgeist and the impact that this can have culturally, but also in the superhero genre, to try something different. We hoped that people will see it for what it is, which is that it has a lot of love and a lot of heart, and the studio felt like it had the potential to be theatrical.”
DC co-head James Gunn earlier revealed the potential future of Xolo Maridueña-led character’s future in the studio. “Yes. Blue Beetle (played by the wonderful @xolo_mariduena) & a handful of other characters will continue on in the DCU,” he wrote on Twitter once. The director of the film also said that they are part of the universe, “we are part of the world, we are part of the plans that they have been creating for the future installments of the DCU,” Soto said earlier but he revealed that the character is not yet tied with characters from the past.
The action-adventure superhero flick, Blue Beetle is set to hit theaters on 18 August 2023.
Source: The Direct.
