With no big releases heading our way until Madame Web swings into theaters just under a month from now, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has been given a solid opportunity to continue making money at the box office.
Its takings have pretty much dried up in North America but overseas, the final DCEU title netted an additional $16.6 million for an international total of $265.5 million. That takes the Aquaman sequel's global cume to $373.7 million.
Black Adam, a movie widely considered one of the brand's biggest flops before the likes of Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle came along, tapped out at $390 million. With that in mind, there's a good chance Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will surpass Dwayne Johnson's first superhero outing.
Like its 2018 predecessor, the King of Atlantis' latest big screen outing is performing well with international audiences and it's a little surprising that DC Studios isn't at least considering keeping Jason Momoa around as Aquaman (instead, it's widely believed he'll swap his Arthur Curry role for Lobo).
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is thought to have cost around $205 million to produce and, with its marketing spend roughly the same, there's a chance the movie will eventually break even. That's no easy feat, particularly as Warner Bros. Discovery gave up on using social media to promote the movie back on New Year's Day...
Director James Wan and Aquaman himself, Jason Momoa - along with Patrick Wilson, Amber Heard, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Nicole Kidman - return in the sequel to the highest-grossing DC film of all time: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
Having failed to defeat Aquaman the first time, Black Manta, still driven by the need to avenge his father’s death, will stop at nothing to take Aquaman down once and for all. This time Black Manta is more formidable than ever before, wielding the power of the mythic Black Trident, which unleashes an ancient and malevolent force. To defeat him, Aquaman will turn to his imprisoned brother Orm, the former King of Atlantis, to forge an unlikely alliance. Together, they must set aside their differences in order to protect their kingdom and save Aquaman’s family, and the world, from irreversible destruction.
The screenplay is by David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick, from a story by James Wan & David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick and Jason Momoa & Thomas Pa'a Sibbett.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is now playing in theaters.