But the result remains very disappointing and (very) far below the first opus that was compiled $1.1 billion in sales. Since coming to power James Gunn close to home DC comicsthe filmmaker behind it Guardians of the Galaxy has made a major breakthrough in the Expanded Universe DC who had just recorded the meager score of $392 million of recipes for the giga blockbuster Black Adam which should revive the dynamic. However, this meant laying the groundwork for the future while four films already in production waited quietly for their release date.
Last year, four films from the company followed one another and concluded the ex Snyderverse (for very big financial failures): Shazam: Fury of the Gods ($134 million in sales for a $125 million budget without marketing), The Lightning (271 million revenue for 250 million budget) And Blue beetle (130 million for 104 budget). Aquaman 2 had to try to complete the polyptych correctly, even if the high authorities of the Warner had already resigned themselves to the hope of recovering from previous disappointments.
At the same time, due to the various strikes, almost no advertising could be placed for these films (WGA and SAG-AFTRA). Also the little we have heard about it Aquaman was negative: Terrible initial test screening results were leaked to the various media. The film has failed to impress people with its quality ever since 35% of reviews are positive on review aggregator Rotten tomatoes. However, the film is James Wan is not a major financial flop. Well, it is, but less massive than you think. Product for 205 million dollarsthe film is currently in full swing $336 million in sales. This makes it the best DCEU success since Black Adam and be 392 million. If it just passed the 100 million mark in the United States due to a disastrous launch (27 million in three days), it's the global box office that prevents that Arthur Curry drown despite his gills. The film isn't quite at the end of its run yet, but should still make a few million to finish Worldwide sales of $360 million. A failure, then, but one that still performs better than the terrible results of its predecessors.
Now it's time for the James Gunn version of the DCU universe, with Superman: Legacy patiently awaiting release with David Corenswet.