Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom‘s opening Christmas weekend box office is expected to gross less money than The Marvels‘ first weekend.
Per Deadline, the last DCEU installment starring Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman is tracking for a North American $40 million plus debut on its four-day Christmas weekend and another $75M-$80M internationally. Should the domestic tracking hold, that’s $6 million less than Marvel Studios‘ The Marvels, which disappointed at $46 million over its 3-day opening weekend last November and went on to end its run as the lowest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe movie at $204 million worldwide.
The low tracking figures for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom contrast with its predecessor’s $67.9 million debut five years ago, resulting in a $335.1 million in the United States and Canada and a total worldwide gross of $1.152 billion. Since then, however, subsequent DCEU projects — including Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle — have underperformed. Additionally, the announcement of a retooled DC film slate under DC Studios‘ bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran has created the perception by audiences that the remaining DCEU releases are little more than creative dead ends.
Since entering production in 2021, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has been plagued by reshoots, delays, and reported poor test audience scores. With the marketing affected by such issues as Amber Heard‘s leaked therapist notes slamming Momoa and the production team, as well as the “superhero fatigue” topic on the DC brand, Warner Bros. appears to have lost faith in the sequel by avoiding a red carpet premiere. Meanwhile, Momoa has been publicly less-than-optimistic about Aquaman’s future in the DCU and has teased the possibility of being re-cast as the alien bounty hunter Lobo.
What is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom about?
“Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all,” the official synopsis reads. “This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.”
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom arrives in theaters on December 22.
