In its third 3-day weekend in theaters, Blue Beetle is holding up pretty well at the domestic box office - at least in comparison to other recent DC-based movies The Flash and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.
Jaime Reyes' big-screen debut is expected to take in $7.3 million this weekend in the U.S., marking a -40% from last weekend, topping the Shazam! sequel's $4.6M (-50.7%) and The Flash's $5.2M (-65.4%).
The movie's domestic total now sits at $56.6 million, and it's expected to reach between $70M and $75M by the end of its run. Worldwide, it's just passed the $95 million mark.
Can Blue Beetle turn a profit for Warner Bros./DC Studios? Honestly, even recouping its costs seems unlikely. The film did reportedly have a relatively modest budget of just over $100 million (before marketing), but unless it proves to have very strong legs, it will struggle.
A direct sequel was always a long shot, anyway, but DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn has confirmed that Reyes will be sticking around in the new DCU - although looking at the BO performances of recent DC movies, Gunn and Safran are going to have their work cut out to reignite audience interest in the brand.
Have you been to see Blue Beetle yet? If so, what did you think, and are you surprised that it didn't perform better at the box office? Be sure to drop us a comment down below.
"Recent college grad Jaime Reyes (Xolo Mariduena) returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it," reads the synopsis. "As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab."
"When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armour capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero Blue Beetle."
The cast also includes Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Adriana Barraza, Elpidia Carrillo, Damián Alcázar, and Raoul Max Trujillo.
Blue Beetle is now in theaters.