DC’s “Aquaman” sequel is projected to make less than half of what the original film did its opening holiday weekend as the superhero genre continues to struggle at the box office.
“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is currently tracking to make $40 million in projected ticket sales over the four-day Christmas holiday weekend (Dec. 22-Dec 25), according to sources with access to data compiled by the National Research Group (NRC), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Warner Bros., home of DC, is projecting sales will be a bit higher and more in the ballpark of $50 million over the holiday weekend, the outlet noted.
The movie is a sequel to the 2018 “Aquaman” film, which earned $75.8 million over the four-day holiday weekend (Dec. 21-24) and $86.7 million through Monday, which was Christmas Eve. The five-day holiday opening in 2018, through Christmas Day, scored $97.8 million. In the end, the film made $1.2 billion globally, per BoxOfficeMojo.
#Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will face rough seas when swimming into theaters over Christmas as the superhero genre continues to struggle https://t.co/15b8gv1S4Z
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 1, 2023
The Jason Momoa-led film takes fans back to the water as “Aquaman balances his duties as king and as a member of the Justice League, all while planning a wedding,” a description on IMDb reads.
“Black Manta is on the hunt for Atlantean tech to help rebuild his armor,” it added. “Orm plots to escape his Atlantean prison.”
The film’s low expectations come as the superhero genre has been struggling lately. Most recently, Disney’s female-led film “The Marvels” opened to just $47 million in its first weekend. It comes after expectations for ticket sales for the Marvel film had been lowered ahead of the film’s release from an estimated $75-$80 million in projected ticket sales to just $60-$65 million, as previously reported.
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The Brie Larson-led Marvel Cinematic Universe film also fell 78% in box office performance for its second weekend out and managed to beat out the previous holder of the worst drop-off from opening weekend held by the third film in the “Ant Man” franchise, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which experienced a 69% drop, the Hollywood Reporter noted.
“The Marvels” is a sequel to the 2019 film, which opened to $153.4 million in North America and eventually raked in $1.13 billion worldwide.
Over the summer, DC’s film “The Flash” struggled to gain traction as well, after it earned just $55 million its opening weekend domestically and just $270.6 million overall in earnings globally.
Related: ‘The Marvels’ Continues To Flail At Box Office, Earns Worst Second-Weekend Drop Of All Time