Aquamanis a certifiable hit at the box office. If the movie never makes another nickel, Warner Bros. can officially pop the champagne and bask in the glow of the success that they so dearly needed for the DC brand. To evidence just how successful Jason Momoa’s first solo outing as Arthur Curry has been thus far, it’s worth pointing out thatAquamanhas officially overtakenGuardians of the Galaxyat the box office.
As of this writing,Aquamanhas grossed $222.8 million domestically, to go with its ridiculously impressive $623.5 million overseas take, for a grand total of $846.3 million worldwide. That puts it pretty far ahead of Marvel’sGuardians of the Galaxy, which grossed $773.3 million worldwide during its run in 2014. At the time, that number was considered to be a massive success and surpassed nearly all industry expectations, as director James Gunn’s first entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a far cry from what fans had come to expect. In that way,Aquamanis similar.
For many years,Aquamanhas remaineda well-known character within the DC universe, but he’s often been the butt of many jokes. Zack Snyder even poked a bit at this with his “I hear you’re able to talk to fish” line from Bruce Wayne inJustice League. WithGuardians of the Galaxy, the characters weren’t a joke, they were just largely unheard of. In both cases, the resulting movie was something that looked nothing like previous entries in these respective franchises and both went on to become big successes. ButAquaman, looking solely at the box office gross, has been just a bit more successful. It’s also worth mentioning, somewhat ironically, thatJason Momoa nearly played Draxin Guardians, a role that ultimately went to Dave Bautista instead.
This is theeleventh MCU moviethatAquamanhas already outgrossed and, any day now, it’s going to beatThor: Ragnarok($854 million) as well asGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2($863.8 million. Beyond that, it should be able to surpassSpider-Man: Homecoming($880.2 million) before wrapping up its run. Director James Wan’s underwater epic is also on pace to beatBatman v Superman: Dawn of Justice($873.6 million), making it the highest-grossing movie in the current DC movie universe overall, having recently passedWonder Woman.
Following the disappointing response toJustice League, Warner Bros. needed to shift their strategy with DC and they needed a hit. Luckily,Aquamanhas become that hit and, though not quite as heralded as some of the movies it’s managed to outgross at thebox office, it’s done reasonably well with critics and has gone over very well with moviegoers. That’s the key. Next up for DC isShazamin April followed by theJokerorigins movie, which takes place outside of this established universe and stars Joaquin Phoenix in the title role, in October. 2020 will seeBirds of PreyandWonder Woman 1984hit theaters. These numbers were provided byBox Office Mojo.
