The Big Picture

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is expected to have an underwhelming box office debut weekend, grossing only $30 million compared to the previous Aquaman film’s $72 million opening. The poor reviews for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with a “rotten” score of 36% on Rotten Tomatoes, sees the DCEU franchise coming to an end with hardly a splash. Despite the competition, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom took the top spot at the box office during a crowded Friday.

An era of DC superhero movies is coming to an end this week, but hardly with a splash. Warner Bros.’ Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is expected to conclude the DC Extended Universe’s decade-long run with an underwhelming debut at the domestic box office, after grossing just under $14 million on Friday, which includes the $4.5 million that it made in Thursday previews. The film is expected to generate around $30 million across the traditional three-day weekend, with a $43 million gross being projected for the extended four-day Christmas weekend.

By comparison, 2018’s Aquaman grossed $72 million in its extended opening weekend, and stayed afloat through the holiday season on its way to an astonishing $1.1 billion global haul — the highest-ever for a DC superhero movie. But times have changed for the genre since then. W.B. has delivered three superhero box office duds itself this year — Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Blue Beetle and The Flash.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, with its poor reviews — the movie currently sits at a “rotten” 36% score on the aggregator Rotten Tomatoes — is the final nail in the franchise’s coffin, before it is rebooted in 2025 with James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy. But W.B. can find solace in the fact that the movie isn’t entirely tanking despite huge competition this weekend, and is actually performing better than fellow Christmas release Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

This Is Shaping Up to be a Packed Christmas Weekend

The studio is also taking the second spot, with last week’s Wonka eyeing a $28 million four-day haul, which represents a strong hold. Starring Timothée Chalamet, the prequel to Roald Dahl’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” grossed $40 million in its first weekend, and will pass the $80 million mark at the domestic box office by Sunday. Wonka grossed $6.5 million on its second Friday, and should shoot past the $200 million milestone worldwide this weekend.

The third and fourth spots this weekend will likely be claimed by Universal’s original animated film Migration and Sony’s buzzy rom-com Anyone But You. Migration could potentially take over from where the studio’s sleeper hit Trolls Band Together left off. The film grossed $5.8 million on Friday, including previews, after having opened in select overseas markets last week. Starring Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell, Anyone But You is looking at an $8.5 million four-day haul after grossing $3.4 million on Friday.

The Indian action-thriller Salaar: Part 1 — Ceasefire actually out-performed Anyone But You on Friday, posting a nearly $4 million haul from under 800 theaters (the rom-com, by comparison, is playing in around 2,000 more locations). Starring Prabhas, Salaar is looking at $8.4 million across the extended weekend. Also debuting this weekend is A24’s The Iron Claw, which grossed $2.5 million on Friday, and in limited release, Searchlight’s All of Us Strangers, which made $65,000 from four locations on opening day. W.B. will release The Color Purple on Christmas Day, potentially setting up utter domination in the top three spots. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Arthur must enlist the help of his half-brother Orm in order to protect Atlantis against Black Manta, who has unleashed a devastating weapon in his obsessive quest to avenge his father’s death. Release Date December 22, 2023 Director James Wan Rating PG-13 Runtime 124 minutes Franchise DC