Warner Bros. Has Now Released SEVEN DC Extended Universe Box Office Flops In A Row

Warner Bros. Has Now Released SEVEN DC Extended Universe Box Office Flops In A Row

Blue Beetle bombed this weekend, but did you know it's actually the seventh DC Extended Universe movie in a row to flop at the global box office? Find more details on what's gone wrong after the jump!

News
By JoshWilding - Aug 21, 2023 09:08 AM EST
Filed Under: DC Studios

This weekend, Blue Beetle opened to just $43.4 million worldwide. While there's still time for the latest DCEU movie to turn things around, this isn't a good start for the movie even with a reported production budget of $104 million. 

Yes, it was once set to be released on HBO Max, and you could argue that $43.4 million is better than the nothing it would have made beyond a potential increase in subscriber numbers. Movies made for streaming aren't produced with opening weekends in mind, though, and a disappointing $25 million U.S. debut is not a result Warner Bros. Discovery will be happy about. 

More concerning is the fact Blue Beetle is currently the seventh DCEU box office flop released in a row:

  • Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey ($201 million)
  • Wonder Woman 1984 ($166 million)
  • The Suicide Squad ($167 million)
  • Black Adam ($391 million)
  • Shazam! Fury of the Gods ($132 million)
  • The Flash ($268 million)
  • Blue Beetle ($43.4 million and counting)

Two of those were released during the pandemic and had to contend with that and dual releases on HBO Max. However, the fact is that Warner Bros. has not released a true DCEU hit since 2019's Shazam!, and most of these were critically panned to boot.

Would it be unfair to blame all this talk of "superhero fatigue" on the DCEU? Yes and no. Marvel Studios has certainly contributed to the problem with hit-and-miss Disney+ TV shows and disappointing blockbusters like Eternals and Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania. 

The DCEU is a brand damaged beyond repair, though, and all eyes will now be on this December's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to see if it can come close to replicating the 2018 movie's $1.2 billion success. DC Studios' reboot is much-needed, though with DC as a whole tarnished, can even Superman: Rebirth escape the DCEU curse?

Considering the fact The Batman grossed $771 million last year, it's clear the problem is the DCEU itself. James Gunn might want to bear that in mind when enlisting familiar faces from the movies above to populate his new DCU.

What do you think?

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GhostDog
GhostDog - 8/21/2023, 9:28 AM
Gunn:
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 8/21/2023, 10:04 AM
@GhostDog -



And Gunn still wants to keep parts of this universe.


He is a psychopath 😑
Mercwitham0uth
Mercwitham0uth - 8/21/2023, 12:40 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - Pretty sure its the higher ups at WB telling him to promote the films and drum up the facade that they're part of his rebooted universe.
iceballsreborn
iceballsreborn - 8/21/2023, 12:48 PM
@AmazingFILMporg - how dare you. Gunn is not a psycopath. sure hes a weird, creep old freak who is trying to squeeze more and more of his deranged thoughts into movies. but hes not a pyscopath.

no. this man is a sociopath.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 8/21/2023, 1:23 PM
@iceballsreborn @AmazingFILMporg - not sure where this is coming from. when you buy a company and fire the leaders, often times you still keep a majority of the employees. Same shit is happening with DC.

He's keeping the employees not the continuity because DC needs a new vision and brand refresh. MCU is doing the same too with the fox characters. They just used Patrick Stewart to return as a different Prof. X in DS2. Gunn is a former MCU employee, he's just going to copy the MCU formula and apply it to the DC.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 8/21/2023, 4:59 PM
@AmazingFILMporg -
The psychopath was the guy who kept greenlighting this shit.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 8/21/2023, 5:01 PM
@mastakilla39 -
The problems were the creative decisions that underpinned all that they did. They disrespected the audience to begin with and shat on the source material with their morning coffee. They were exploiters and not storytellers.
mastakilla39
mastakilla39 - 8/21/2023, 8:10 PM
@Goldboink - Agree, but that has nothing to do with James Gunn being a psychopath nor should he be labeled one for keeping the same actors. It was AT&T's fault and their previous leaders who disrespected the source material, not the cast and crew who were just doing what they were told. It makes logical sense for Gunn to keep them if he still sees potential for them to strive and relaunch DC.
Goldboink
Goldboink - 8/21/2023, 10:54 PM
@mastakilla39 -
Right on. If you give me a good movie I will be entertained no matter who is in it
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 8/21/2023, 9:28 AM
They should make those a Box Set...lol
Goldboink
Goldboink - 8/21/2023, 5:02 PM
@BlackStar25 -
And include Plan 9 From Outer Space and The Room.
WhatIfRickJames
WhatIfRickJames - 8/21/2023, 9:29 AM
So potentially not a flop? They haven't completed their box office run yet.
supermanrex
supermanrex - 8/21/2023, 10:23 AM
@WhatIfRickJames - its clickbait. they could have made a penny under projections and the clickbait flop headlines would still be thrown out there. three days in to release and its a flop even though it made half its budget back already in three days. so stupid.
TruthNoFodder
TruthNoFodder - 8/21/2023, 9:29 AM
A $43.4 million debut for a film that cost $104 million is not a flop.
LeonNova
LeonNova - 8/21/2023, 9:44 AM
@TruthNoFodder - The film would have to at least double its budget to break even, and it’s definitely not gonna do that. So it is a flop.
FireandBlood
FireandBlood - 8/21/2023, 9:44 AM
@TruthNoFodder - It is when the movie needs over 5x multiplier to break even. Blue Beetle won’t even get 3x multiplier to gross as much as its production budget. It’s a certified flop.
WakandanQueen
WakandanQueen - 8/21/2023, 9:56 AM
@TruthNoFodder - It's gonna end up making a little over $100m... not good.
Captainhulk1
Captainhulk1 - 8/21/2023, 10:01 AM
@TruthNoFodder - Yeah it is. If that was just a domestic gross, then it wouldn't be a flop. That 43 million is worldwide, so it's a flop.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 8/21/2023, 10:04 AM
@TruthNoFodder - Needs to make $204M to break even...you think its making $204M?
AmazingFILMporg
AmazingFILMporg - 8/21/2023, 10:06 AM
@TruthNoFodder -


The film needs 250 million to break even😂
bobevanz
bobevanz - 8/21/2023, 9:33 AM
One side flops, the other makes 50 bucks off a 800m box office. Stupidity all around
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 8/21/2023, 9:33 AM


Still wondering how Aquaman will do...
HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 8/21/2023, 9:34 AM
@BlackStar25 - did they ever say who the 7th was?
cyclopsprime
cyclopsprime - 8/21/2023, 9:37 AM
@HammerLegFoot - it was either green lantern or martian manhunter
HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 8/21/2023, 9:38 AM
@cyclopsprime - I'll go with Martian Manhunter since he showed up at the end.
Origame
Origame - 8/21/2023, 9:41 AM
@cyclopsprime - technically green lantern since that scene at the end was meant to be Jon Stewart, but they switched him out with Martian manhunter for the Snyder cut.

So whatever your feeling.
TheHumanSpider2
TheHumanSpider2 - 8/21/2023, 10:06 AM
@HammerLegFoot - The seven seas?

@BlackStar25 - Less than The Flash, meaning...another bomb.
HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 8/21/2023, 9:33 AM
All it is is people dont like going to the movies anymore. The last movie I went to the theater and saw was Nope and thats only cause it was a boys night out type of thing. I love the MCU but I just wait for the movie to hit Disney+. Back in the day I was at the movies every friday night. Covid changed everything.
BlackStar25
BlackStar25 - 8/21/2023, 9:35 AM
@HammerLegFoot - Can we really say that tho? Barbie and Oppenheimer proved other wise.
HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 8/21/2023, 9:38 AM
@BlackStar25 - I've never heard of either of those movies.
cham2119
cham2119 - 8/21/2023, 10:01 AM
@HammerLegFoot - this part, haven’t been to a theatre since dune came out. I bought a big screen tv just so I don’t have to go anymore.
supermanrex
supermanrex - 8/21/2023, 10:26 AM
@HammerLegFoot - your way off. YOU dont like going to the movie anymore. other people do. billion dollar barbie is an example.
HammerLegFoot
HammerLegFoot - 8/21/2023, 10:42 AM
@supermanrex - Yall keep talking about this Barbie movie that I've never heard of. WTF is Barbie?
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