"Aquaman 2" failed miserably at the North American box office, but the global box office counterattacked, surpassing "Ant-Man 2"!
Aquaman 2 is a sequel to 2018's Aquaman and follows the adventures of Jason Momoa in DC Comics as the superhero Aquaman Arthur Kuo. "Aquaman" is the highest-grossing film in the DC Universe, with a global box office of 11$500 million. However, the new film did not show the same potential, grossing just $27.6 million in North America in the weekend before Christmas, the fourth-worst debut result of 15 DC films.
However, the film performed well in the international market, earning $80.1 million from 73 international markets, almost three times the North American box office, becoming the global box office champion. Among them is China, which has the highest opening result for a superhero movie in 2023. It grossed a total of 1$07.7 billion, although it has not yet recovered its production budget of more than $200 million.
Aquaman 2 was released at a time when big-budget superhero movies were generally suffering from box office declines. This is not only the case for DC movies, but also for its rival, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, Aquaman 2 is far ahead of some of the recent failures in both cinematic universes at the international box office. Here's how far it leads some other superhero movies in the same market::
Ahead of Captain Marvel 2。"Captain Marvel 2" is a Marvel movie released in November this year, and it is also the lowest-grossing one in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Ahead of Black Adam
Ahead of The Flash
If "Aquaman 2" can maintain a stable turnover rate, which is a common phenomenon in holiday movies, it may reach a stronger score than "Ant-Man 2".
Ant-Man 2 is a Marvel movie released in May this year, with a global box office of 4$7.6 billion. "Aquaman 2" is also the second strongest opening in the world among DC movies in 2023, second only to "The Flash" (1$3.9 billion), well ahead of "Blue Beetle" ($43.4 million) and "Shazam 2" ($65.5 million).
Without any blockbuster superhero blockbuster releases before Valentine's Day 2024, Aquaman 2 has a good chance of being a success, especially if it can continue to be supported by international markets.
Aquaman 2 made up for its dismal start in North America with a strong international box office, becoming the global weekend box office champion.
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