Heading into the weekend, we knew Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom would likely struggle, but the hits keep on coming for a sequel which has been unable to catch a break since its low-key "premiere."
The final DC Extended Universe movie sank yesterday with a $10.5 million haul which saw it lose second place to The Color Purple (a Broadway adaptation). Over the four-day weekend, it also grossed a lower-than-expected $38 million, with a mere $27.7 million over the three-day weekend.
That's more than Blue Beetle but less than The Suicide Squad, a disastrous result for a movie that serves as the follow-up to a blockbuster, Aquaman, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide in 2018. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom isn't exceeding expectations like its predecessor, something which doesn't bode well for the days and weeks ahead.
Tellingly, while DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn did his bit to spread the word about Shazam! Fury of the Gods, The Flash, and Blue Beetle, he's remained largely quiet on social media about this movie. Instead, the filmmaker has been sharing the odd update about Superman: Legacy and the wider DCU.
Below, is the last time the official Aquaman movie X account posted about the sequel. Warner Bros. Pictures' account reposted it but largely focused on The Color Purple on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.
There's life beyond social media, of course, but this will have done little to raise awareness for a movie that needed all the help it could get. Still, with 36% on Rotten Tomatoes and a (respectable) 79% Audience Score, it's not as if the studio has a great deal to tout about the final DCEU blockbuster.
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.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is now playing in theaters.