Xolo Mariduena plays Jaime Reyes in Warner Bros.’ “Green Bug.”
Warner Bros. Discover
It’s pink vs. blue at the box office this weekend.
As “Barbie” continues its history in theaters, a little-known superhero named “Blue Beetle” is looking to take the top spot this weekend.
With $3.3 million from Thursday night previews, Warner Bros. discover the latest film based on a DC Comics character is expected to gross between $22 million and $32 million at its domestic premiere.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ Barbie, which has steadily grossed $545 million domestically since its late-July release, is expected to add another $17 million to $22 million in its fifth weekend.
“Blue Beetle” hits theaters after a number of DC Comics-based films flop at the box office and while the studio undergoes a major change in creative mode.
“The four films coming out this year are all orphans,” said Robert Thompson, a professor at Syracuse University and pop culture expert. Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash,” “Blue Beetle” and The Flash. “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is coming soon.
“They’re part of an old universe that’s about to be completely rebooted. [Warner Bros.] had to promote these things, obviously they wanted them to be big hits, but it felt like they were part of the old guard,” Thompson said.
And so far the audience has not turned out to see these films. “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” earned just $57.6 million domestically, and “The Flash” earned a little over $100 million in the US and Canada.
Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, said these performances showed audience “apathy”.
Will the ‘Green Bug’ Take Off or Get Crushed?
When “Blue Beetle” was first developed in 2018, it was possible that the character Jaime Reyes, the man behind the moniker, would cross paths with other popular DC heroes. However, revenue at the studio, largely due to a merger between Warner Media and Discovery, has raised questions about the hero’s future.
As superhero movies become more prevalent in cultural ideology, much of the appeal of big franchises is the ability of the stories to connect. That’s why Disney Marvel Studios was able to introduce obscure comic book characters like Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and Moon Knight into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and turn them into fan-favorite characters.
Blue Beetle, which doesn’t promise to interact with Justice League veterans like Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, the Flash or Aquaman, may not generate much excitement at the box office.
Sure, independent, unaffiliated movies have brought DC success in recent times, but they do feature popular characters like Batman and the Joker.
“We are in limbo,” said Shawn Robbins, principal analyst at BoxOffice.com. “In a world where superheroes aren’t really novel anymore, that’s going to be a hard sell for a lot of people.”
Robbins said the Blue Beetle, which has a Mexican-American family at its core, could benefit from the Hispanic audience flocking to see Marvel’s Black Panther movie. movie.
Critics have raved about Xolo Mariduena’s magnetic performance as the main character and how the film focuses on a family-centered hero rather than a lone gunman.
“Blue Beetle” still falls into some of the old traps of previous superhero movies, including chaotic, repetitive CGI fight scenes, but some say that as the DC process adjusts in a few seconds Next year, it should find a way to keep Mariduena and Blue Beetle on its list.
“A movie like Blue Beetle can benefit from strong word of mouth,” says Dergarabedian. The verdict for DC’s newest entry will come after the first three weeks, not the first three days in theaters.
A new era on the horizon
Blue Beetle’s biggest battle is to recover enough at the box office to justify its $125 million budget and any additional marketing costs the studio has spent.
That’s nothing compared to The Flash’s $200 million budget, which had a theatrical cap of $268.5 million worldwide. After marketing costs and dividing ticket sales with theaters, the film will not break even for the studio.
There are a lot of similar concerns over Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, slated for a December release. The sequel had a budget of around $205 million, but has gone through three separate reshoots as well as expenses. protracted pandemic production costs. While many blockbusters will turn to reshoots to perfect dialogue or insert scenes to clarify the rhythm in the film, few require as many additional rounds of photography.
Much of the film’s problems stem from the conflicting creative directions that previous studio heads wanted for the DC Extended Universe as a whole. And now, with James Gunn and Peter Safran directing, the film appears to be going through its final series of changes.
However, the coming era of Gunn and Safran doesn’t guarantee a certain future for DC Studios, Thompson said.
“I didn’t think there would be a sudden miracle like this,” he said, noting that although the pair have a wealth of industry experience, including Gunn’s success with three Guardians of the Galaxy films. for Marvel, but it won’t happen immediately. erasing DC’s hit movies for many years and the damage that audiences have suffered.
“That’s pretty optimistic,” Thompson said.
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