Blue Beetle Scores Solid Second Weekend At The Box Office Thanks To National Cinema Day
It ain't easy being a superhero movie these days. That's the sort of sentence it would have been hard to imagine writing just a few years ago, but 2023 has not been kind to capes, tights, and super-suits. DC's "Blue Beetle" felt that pain last weekend when it opened to just $25 million domestically and $43 million overall worldwide, leaving it a long way to go before breaking even. With a production budget of $104 million, that milestone is probably set somewhere around the $250 million mark.
"Blue Beetle" does have one blessing on its side, however: its second weekend coincides with the second annual National Cinema Day. Created by the Cinema Foundation, a nonprofit, the event offers discounted movie tickets at the low price of just $4 across all showtimes and formats. According to The Wrap, "Blue Beetle" was expected to drop by around 61 percent in its second weekend without the benefit of National Cinema Day. Thanks to the boost in attendance, however, it's now on track to add $12.8 million to its domestic gross this weekend — a solid hold, dropping just 49 percent from its debut.
Overall, it's expected that the Cinema Day discounts will boost the weekend's grosses by 13 percent. This week's new release, "Gran Turismo," was tracking for a $16.5 million opening weekend on Saturday, but ticket sales have exceeded expectations and it's now looking at a $17.3 million debut, which could rise even higher once the final numbers are in.
Blue Beetle is still struggling overseas
While "Blue Beetle" has reasons to celebrate at the domestic box office, it's still struggling overseas. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the movie grossed an estimated $10 million from 70 foreign markets this weekend, contributing to a running international total of $35.5 million and a global total of $81.8 million.
Box office fortunes tend to dampen in August and September anyway, as the summer comes to an end and kids return to school. But in the wake of the dual triumphs of "Barbie and "Oppenheimer," the disappointing box office performance of recent releases seems even more stark. "Haunted Mansion," "Strays," and "The Last Voyage of the Demeter" all bombed, and "Meg 2: The Trench" has succeeded primarily thanks to international markets, with almost 80 percent of its global gross so far coming from overseas.
At least now we have an answer to the important question of which would win in a fight: a giant shark or a blue beetle.