DC's Blue Beetle Starts Slow At Box Office, But Still Knocks Barbie Off Top Spot

DC's newest film, Blue Beetle, opened in theaters this past weekend, and it had one of the slowest starts at the box office in DC movie history.

The movie earned $25.4 million at the US box office and $18 million from international markets for a total first-weekend result of $43 million. That's among the worst starts ever for a DC film.

Blue Beetle had a production budget of $100 million and Warner Bros. spent millions more on marketing and promotion. As such, Variety reported that the film will need to "defy the box office odds" to make its money back.

Warner Bros. management said in a memo to press that tropical storm Hilary might have had an impact on box office results in Southern California, where the movie is "over-indexing," according to the company.

For comparison, DC's Shazam: Fury of the Gods earned $30.1 million for its opening weekend in March this year, while The Flash brought in $55 million for its US opening in June. Among recent DC movies, only 2020's Wonder Woman 1984 ($16.7 million), which opened during the pandemic and was released simultaneously on HBO Max (now Max), had a lower box office start in the US than Blue Beetle.

Despite a slow start, Blue Beetle was the No. 1 movie at the US box office this weekend. That's notable because Barbie had been the No. 1 film in the US every weekend dating back to its debut on July 21. Barbie, which is also a Warner Bros. movie, has now banked $567 million worldwide and is expected to soon pass The Super Mario Bros. Movie ($574 million) to become the No. 1 movie at the US box office this year.