Aquaman and the Lost Kingdomwill win the holiday weekend, but it’s a shallow victory. Director James Wan’s follow-up to the billion-dollar blockbusterAquaman(2018) is sadly being swept away in the overwhelming riptides of bad reviews, and evenThe Flash’sopening-weekend number ($55 million) will prove to be better onceAquaman 2’swaters recede. As of Christmas Eve,The Lost Kingdomhas only made an estimated $28.1 million domestically (perBox Office Mojo):
While that is good enough to take the No. 1 spot here at home, it’s hardly the number Wan and Warner Bros. were hoping to post whenThe Lost Kingdomwas greenlit. However, there is a tiny bit of good news for the much-maligned superhero sequel. Tomorrow is Christmas! And with the four-day weekend in play,The Lost Kingdomis estimated to make another $10 million to $12 million on December 25, which will boost its weekend total to approximately $40 million.
Now, remember the global disaster that Ezra Miller’sFlashmovie turned out to be over the summer.The Flashwas a bona fide box office flop, and it still outperformedThe Lost Kingdomover its opening weekend with $55 million. Fortunately, at the end of the day,The Lost Kingdomwon’t post the worst box office debut by a DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film. That dubious honor falls toWonder Woman 1984’s$16.7 million. However, it must be noted thatWW1984opened during the COVID-19 pandemic in December of 2020. Now, check out howThe Lost Kingdomstacks up against the rest of the DCEU entries’ opening-weekend numbers below:
Batman v. Superman: $166 million
Suicide Squad: $133.7 million
Man of Steel: $116.7 million
Wonder Woman: $103 million
Justice League: $94 million
Aquaman: $68 million
Black Adam: $67 million
The Flash: $55 million
Shazam!: $54 million
Aquaman 2: $40 million (4-day estimated total)
Birds of Prey: $33 million
Shazam! Fury of the Gods: $30 million
The Suicide Squad: $26.2 million
Blue Beetle: $25 million
Wonder Woman 1984: $16.7 million
Related:Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Cast & Character Guide
Aquaman 2 Eyes $40-Million Weekend
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
The follow-up to the smash hit DC adventure Aquaman, starring Jason Momoa as the King of Atlantis.
Jason Momoa’sfinal appearance as the King of Atlantis in the DCEU is drowning domestically, butAquaman and the Lost Kingdomhas done twice the amount of business internationally. WhereasThe Lost Kingdomis estimated to only walk away with $40 million here at home, James Wan’s sequel boasts $80 million outside of North America. So, when all is said and done after Christmas,The Lost Kingdomshould have amassed approximately $120 million globally.
Meanwhile, Warner Bros. will also boast the No. 2 finisher atthe weekend box office withWonka. TheWilly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory(1971) prequel has already made $17.7 million through Christmas Eve, which will be good enough for second place. The film has also amassed a worldwide total of $255 million, at the time of this writing. The No. 3 spot domestically will go to the newcomerMigration, which has made $12.3 million so far.
Another new title,Anyone But You,made $6.2 million, which is good enough for fourth place. AndSalaar: Part 1 – Ceasefirejust cracks the Top 5 with $5.5 million. Zac Efron’sThe Iron Clawcouldn’t wrestle its way into the Top 5 and had to settle for a rather pedestrian sixth-place finish with $5.1 million.
Emma Stone, Willem Dafoe andMark Ruffalo’s Frankenstein-esquePoor Thingsincreases from 82 to 800 theaters, and director Yorgos Lanthimos’ film ranks at No. 10 this weekend with $2.1 million. That’s a 64.6% increase from last week’s numbers. And the fantasy romanceAll of Us Strangersdebuts in limited release (4 theaters) with $132,000 (a per-theater average of $33,000). While two more newcomers,Freud’s Last Session(5 theaters) andMemory(2 theaters), both post noteworthy per-theater averages of $9,118 and $18,250 respectively.
