‘Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom’ home field workplace opening

“Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” dog-paddled to a $28.1 million home opening, the fourth-lowest within the historical past of the DC Prolonged Universe.

The movie was expected to open between $32 million and $42 million. Because it stands, the $28 million estimate from Warner Bros. Discovery is lower than half of the $67.8 million the primary “Aquaman” film introduced in throughout its 2018 debut weekend.

The movie, possible Jason Momoa’s final flip on the titular aquatic hero, is predicted to safe round $40 million in ticket gross sales over the four-day Christmas vacation weekend.

The weekend efficiency of “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” is on par with Warner Bros.’ DC franchise lately. Just one movie from the franchise has debuted with greater than $60 million in ticket gross sales since 2018 — “Black Adam” took in $67 million in early 2022, based on knowledge from Comscore.

The $28 million estimated opening haul is smaller than the $30.1 million “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” tallied earlier this 12 months. Notably, the second “Shazam!” movie solely managed to gather $57.6 million domestically and $133 million globally throughout its run in theaters. It additionally had a higher critics rating than “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom currently holds on Rotten Tomatoes — 49% vs. 36%. Both films are considered “Rotten” on the review site.

The new “Aquaman” film always had much to live up to heading into its opening weekend. The first film surprised Hollywood when it generated more than $1 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing film in the DC Extended Universe franchise, which is traced back to 2013′s “Man of Metal.”

Much of the interest from fans came following the 2017 release of “Justice League,” as moviegoers expected “Aquaman” to launch the franchise forward.

Since the film’s release in 2018, however, no DCEU film has generated more than $400 million at the global box office.

The franchise has suffered from lackluster quality, as critics have balked at CGI-heavy action sequences and disjointed attempts at bringing heroes together for team-ups. Pandemic-era restrictions also led to smaller box office openings in 2020 and 2021.

Even as those restrictions have lifted and audiences have returned to theaters, the DCEU has struggled to lure back even its most ardent fans. This was exacerbated earlier this year when Warner Bros. Discovery announced that the complete franchise could be rebooted in 2025 by the newly minted heads of DC Studios, James Gunn and Peter Safra,n.

The deliberate reboot dismayed followers, who imagine that “Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “Blue Beetle,” “The Flash” and “Aquaman and the Misplaced Kingdom” — all released after the announcement — would have no connection to future DC projects and were not must-see theatrical experiences.

One bright spot for the “Aquaman” sequel is that it faces limited competition in theaters next week and could benefit from the upcoming holidays, as school vacations have parents seeking out-of-home entertainment.

“Whereas so-called superhero fatigue could also be in play for a lot of movies of the style in 2023, leading to lower-than-expected opening weekend outcomes, movies that open in late December akin to ‘Aquaman 2’ usually play the lengthy recreation and draw their audiences all through the vacation and into the brand new 12 months,” stated Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore.

Disclosure: Comcast is the father or mother firm of NBCUniversal and CNBC. NBCUniversal owns Rotten Tomatoes.