‘Blue Beetle’ Emerges as Weekend Box Office Leader, Dethroning ‘Barbie’

In a noteworthy shift at the domestic box office, Blue Beetle made its debut in the top position, displacing Barbie after its month-long reign. Blue Beetle’s entry into the box office arena places it below the initial numbers of both Birds of Prey and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

Warner Bros. claimed a double triumph this weekend. The new superhero flick, Blue Beetle, is likely to be remembered as the film that unseated the blockbuster Barbie from its prime position at the domestic box office after a month of domination. While Blue Beetle didn’t set off a cash frenzy in its initial weekend, its performance was strong enough to push Barbie down to second place.

Blue Beetle, positioned in an awkward stance between the traditional DC Extended Universe and the forthcoming reimagined iteration of the series, managed to garner approximately $26 million in its opening weekend, with a $10 million Friday launch. This leaves it trailing behind Birds of Prey and Shazam! Fury of the Gods—two movies that are commonly seen as having fallen short of box office expectations. The movie’s budget also falls within the same range as these two DCEU titles.

Yet, it’s evident that the average moviegoer’s enthusiasm for additional installments of a franchise that’s already been relegated to the past is waning. This could pose challenges for December’s release of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which is intended to conclude the era of the old DCEU. James Gunn and Peter Safran will oversee the DCEU’s relaunch in 2025, beginning with Superman: Legacy.

Barbie settled for second place during its fifth weekend, amassing around $21 million. This brings its cumulative domestic earnings to an impressive $566 million. On a global scale, Barbie has crossed the $1.2 billion mark, positioning it to potentially surpass The Super Mario Bros. Movie in both domestic and worldwide earnings, thus becoming the year’s highest-grossing film. Under the direction of Greta Gerwig, Barbie premiered alongside Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer last month, forming the much-hyped “Barbenheimer” event, which collectively garnered almost $2 billion worldwide.

Both New Releases Fell Short in Debut Weekends

Oppenheimer claimed the third spot, amassing an additional $11 million this weekend. The film is on the verge of reaching the $300 million milestone domestically, poised to soon surpass the lifetime domestic earnings of Nolan’s Inception ($293 million). Like Blue Beetle, Oppenheimer is also destined to be a favorite trivia tidbit, being the biggest film in history to never secure the top box office position throughout its run. The movie exceeded the $700 million global mark on Saturday and is projected to conclude Sunday with roughly $718 million worldwide.

The fourth and fifth positions were captured by the new R-rated comedy Strays and Paramount’s ongoing animated feature, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. While Strays only managed $8.5 million in its inaugural weekend—a notably low figure considering its reported production cost of over $45 million—Mutant Mayhem is anticipated to achieve a comparable figure in its third weekend, bringing its cumulative domestic earnings to just under $90 million. Actual reports tomorrow might indicate that the movie could potentially surpass Strays. For more updates, you can watch our interview with Blue Beetle’s director Ángel Manuel Soto and stay tuned to FilmSweep.

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More about box office success

• Blue Beetle
• Barbie
• Birds of Prey
• Shazam! Fury of the Gods
• Oppenheimer
• Strays
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
• Superman: Legacy