Early BLUE BEETLE Box Office Tracking Has The Film Earning Less Than $20M In Its Opening Weekend

Warner Bros. may have shot itself in the foot by announcing a new cinematic universe for its DC Comics heroes while there were still several DC Comics films to be released.

James Gunn's reboot of the DC films was announced on January 31, 2023. He was appointed co-CEO of DC Films along with Peter Safran. The announcement was made in a video posted on Twitter.

However, true talk of a reboot began in August 2022, when  Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) CEO David Zaslav revealed his desire to "reset" the DC film universe during a quarterly earnings investor call.

Since that earnings investor call, it's been one box office bomb after another.  Black Adam, Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods, and The Flash have all failed to turn a profit for WBD.

Will Blue Beetle turn out differently?

It sure doesn't look that way, as early tracking from BoxOffcePro.com has the film earning $12-$17M domestically in its opening weekend, with a total domestic gross of just $27-$55M.

With a reported $120M production budget, Blue Beetle will need to have a strong international box office performance to avoid a similar fate as WBD's last three superhero films.

Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. 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 armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.

Starring alongside Maridueña (“Cobra Kai”) are Adriana Barraza (“Rambo: Last Blood,” “Thor”), Damían Alcázar (“Narcos,” “Narcos: Mexico”), Elpidia Carrillo (“Mayans M.C.,” the “Predator” films), Bruna Marquezine (“Maldivas,” “God Save the King”), Raoul Max Trujillo (the “Sicario” films, “Mayans M.C.”), with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (“Monarch,” “Dead Man Walking”), and George Lopez (the “Rio and “Smurf” franchises). The film also stars Belissa Escobedo (“American Horror Stories,” “Hocus Pocus 2”) and Harvey Guillén (“What We Do in the Shadows”). Soto (“Charm City Kings,” “The Farm”) directs from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer (“Miss Bala”), based on characters from DC. John Rickard and Zev Foreman are producing, with Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Garrett Grant serving as executive producers.