Despite not performing well at the box office, it has been learned that this DCEU bust has become a big hit in the home entertainment market. The movie?
The DCEU’s Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom starring Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson.
Aquaman 2 Helped Drive Strong Home Entertainment Sales for WBD
On Wednesday, Warner Bros. Discovery released its quarterly investor report and named Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in the report. WBD described Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and Wonka as having “robust performance” in their home entertainment division in the year prior:
The decrease in home entertainment revenue was primarily due to the robust performance of Wonka and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in the prior year.
What it means is that Wonka and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom had strong home entertainment performance in the previous year, but this year, WBD had no comparable titles to match those revenue levels.
In short, Aquaman 2 didn’t flop in the home release space—it actually helped last year’s numbers look better than this year’s.
Was Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom a flop?
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom had a massive budget of $215 million plus marketing. So as it only brought in $439.3 million worldwide, it’s definitely a flop.
It’s also in stark contrast to the first film released in 2018 which brought in over $1.1 billion at the box office.
The critic reactions are also opposite, as while the 2018 Aquaman had at least a positive Rotten Tomatoes score – 66% from critics – the sequel, released five years later, has a critics score of only 33%. But what is interesting and where it counts is that the fan score is higher at 79% than the first film’s 72%.
Why did Aquaman 2 flop?
It’s worth noting that Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom marked the last entry in the DCEU. It also followed the five consecutive DCEU bombs of Blue Beetle, The Flash, Shazam: Fury of the Gods, Black Adam, and The Suicide Squad.
In short, fans knew the DCEU was coming to a close, so Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom didn’t matter as much, and coupled with a string of DC failures, fans didn’t bother showing up in theaters.
However, according to Warner Bros. Discovery, the fans showed up in digital and home entertainment, which is a good sign for fan-favorite star Jason Momoa who is set to return in James Gunn’s DCU.
What’s next for Jason Momoa in the DCU?
Jason Momoa won’t be playing Aquaman anymore. James Gunn actually cast Momoa as DC’s Main Man, Lobo. Momoa is starring in the Supergirl movie, which is currently filming. The actor recently teased Lobo and revealed on social media that he had wrapped filming.
“Rides a motorcycle, smokes cigars, loves Guinness… I mean come on dreadlocks,” said Momoa in recent interviews. “I don’t want to give away too much, but I mean, we look pretty dead on, exactly like the character, and he’s pretty rough and gruff and… I’ll say the bike’s really cool.”
Jason Momoa talks LOBO and almost reveals what he’ll look before his publicist stopped him during press for ‘A Minecraft Movie’
— DCU HYPE (@DCUHypeGuy) March 21, 2025
– Momoa will play LOBO in next year’s ’SUPERGIRL: Woman of Tomorrow’
– ‘Supergirl’ is currently filming at WB Studios Leavesden
Via: @CinemaBlend pic.twitter.com/IPrAG7Oadf
Supergirl gets released on June 26, 2026. It’s expected that Jason Momoa will be appearing down the road in Gunn’s DCU, maybe even in his own solo Lobo film.
Momoa also recently starred in Minecraft for WBD, which is a huge hit and should pass $900M worldwide this weekend.
