‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ Crossed $400 Million at the Box Office Becoming the 11th Highest-Grossing DC Film of All Time

2023 was not exactly a stellar year for superhero movies, and this trend continued even before as far as DCEU is concerned since barely any movie struggled to make a profit. The expectations were pretty grim when it came to the last DCEU installment for several reasons. First, following the release of ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ DCEU was officially over, and the movie quite frankly led nowhere. Second, due to the SAG-AFTRA strike the movie had barely any marketing and to top it all, Amber Heard had a role in the movie following her messy public trial against former spouse Johnny Depp which caused some would-be viewers to boycott the movie.

Following the release, the movie held 36% on Rotten Tomatoes during the first 48 hours, and it earned and “B” CinemaScore based on early audience impressions, which put him among the lowest-rated movies in the DCEU.

‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ has earned $28 million over the course of the first three days. For comparison, the first movie also earned $28 million in a single day. This was significantly less than what the movie was projected to earn, with projections standing at $40 million.  

However, ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ still had a better opening, considering that it managed to outearn all the other movies. The first installment in the ‘Aquaman’ series grossed nearly $1.2 billion, making it the DCEU’s highest-grossing film. Now that ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ box office run is coming to a close the first numbers are in, the movie earned +$412 million across the global box office meaning that it surprisingly didn’t flop, and if we take into account the sales of merch and digital copies, it might even make some profit for the studio.

‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ has become the only DCEU film to surpass the $400 million mark at the global box office since the first ‘Aquaman.’ In its sixth weekend, the film grossed $7 million overseas, bringing its international total to $294.6 million across 76 markets. Combined with its $118.1 million domestic earnings, the movie, with a production budget of $205 million, has reached a global cumulative total of $412.7 million. This achievement makes it Warner Bros.’ fifth highest-grossing film post-COVID, surpassing ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,’ ‘Dune,’ and ‘Meg 2: The Trench.’ The film is now aiming for a global run of $435 million.

‘Aquaman & The Lost Kingdom’ has achieved the remarkable feat of surpassing the 1989 film ‘Batman,’ securing its place as the 11th highest-grossing DC film of all time, without adjusting for inflation. With a global box office earnings of over $412 million, the movie now stands proudly among the impressive list of top-grossing DC films, which includes blockbuster hits like ‘Aquaman,’ ‘The Dark Knight Rises,’ and ‘Joker.’

The final installment in the DCEU will at least go down in glory as one of the few profitable movies in the cinematic universe. Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!