According to early estimates, the Aquaman 2 box office is bombing, with it learned ticket sales are massively trailing Dwayne Johnson’s Black Adam which finished with less than $400 million at the box office.
The first Aquaman opened to over $67 million with its three-day opening and over $100 million with its five-day Christmas opening; however, the sequel doesn’t look to be coming anywhere near those numbers.
Early estimates offer Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is on track for a three-day opening of between $32 million – $42 million.
It’s suggested the sequel could finish with a domestic box office between $105M and $168M, much less than the first film’s $335M (whopping $816.9M internationally).
Regarding ticket sales, it is reported Aquaman 2 is 62 percent behind Black Adam after one day of sample market tracking (via box office pro).
Has a lot going against it
It’s not a surprise that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom might bomb at the box office as it has a number of things going against it.
It’s the last of the DCEU movies, so fans are looking at the flick as meaningless, much like The Flash. Even Jason Momoa has teased he is done with Aquaman. It’s now speculated Momoa is going to play Lobo for James Gunn’s new DCU.
Rumors have also offered the film has undergone massive reshoots, so it’s questioned if the movie is any good. There is also Amber Heard who returns as Mera, and questionable elements in the film are said to have caused test audiences to walk out.
Black Adam king of DC
Who would have thought Black Adam would be the king of DC?
Dwayne Johnson was vying for control of the DC films universe, but his Black Adam didn’t open as high as hoped. Johnson tried to argue the flick still made money.
However, sending a big message, the week Black Adam was released, Warner Bros. announced James Gunn and Peter Safran in charge of DC films, not Dwayne Johnson and his producer team.
It has been said Gunn had been advising the head of WBD David Zaslav, so Zaslav went with Gunn.
I’ve also been told Zaslav demanded Gunn go with cheaper DC talent, hence why the likes of Dwayne Johnson, Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck all got the boot — too expensive as Zaslav preps WBD for sale.
