As Blue Beetle attempts to weather a metaphorical storm after a disappointing opening weekend at the box office, a literal natural disaster is being blamed for low audience turnout.
In a statement to Exhibitor Relations, Warner Bros. Discovery claimed that Tropical Storm Hilary had a "significant" impact on the DC Comics movie's domestic debut, "particularly in Southern California where the film is over‐indexing."
While some are bound to roll their eyes at this, the storm is likely to have been at least partially responsible for potential cinemagoers staying indoors. Hilary is said to have broken "virtually all rainfall daily records" in LA, resulting in the No. 1 market for Blue Beetle being hit by rain, flooding, mudslides, and rock slides just as the movie made its way into theaters.
Ol' Hilary can't take all of the blame, of course, and it'll be interesting to see if Blue Beetle can rebound from a $25 million bow (including $3.3M from Thursday previews) as it heads towards its second weekend in theaters.
PollMaker
"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 set to be released in theaters on August 18, 2023.