Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Box Office Projected for up to $60 Million Opening Weekend

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's box office projections are up to $60 million on the high end of the scale – and $50 million on the low end in its four-day Christmas holiday window of release. Christmas Day 2023 falls on a Monday, giving Warner Bros. and director James Wan more runway for a strong opening, with Christmas Eve falling on a Sunday, giving families everywhere all the opportunity in the world to head out to the theater.

For comparison, the first Aquaman had an opening weekend box office of $67.8M when it was released around the Christmas holiday in 2018. That film ultimately earned $1.152 billion worldwide by the end of its run – surprising quite a few people. However, Aquaman 2 is coming out in a very different time and under a very different set of circumstances, which must be considered. 

First, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has the precarious role of being the final installment of the DCEU franchise that started with Zack Snyder's Man of Steel in 2013. While The Lost Kingdom is opening in theaters, James Gunn is already hard at work making Superman: Legacy – a movie that will serve as the opening chapter of a rebooted DC Universe franchise. There's already been substantial evidence that the announcement of DC Studios and a new DCU (a year ago now) has taken a toll on the final slate of movies from the DCEU era. The Flash only earned $270.6M on a colossal budget of $200M+; meanwhile, even strong reviews couldn't stop Blue Beetle from being a similar underperformer in theaters, earning just $129M worldwide on a budget of $104M. 

That all said, the trailers for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom have painted it as being a standalone sequel to the first film – and a blockbuster spectacle, visually speaking. The straightforward revenge story (Black Manta vs. Aquaman's family) and star power of Jason Momoa may give it a chance the other DC films (one a canon-heavy story, the other a relatively unknown character new to live-action) didn't have. Of all the many movies coming out around Christmas this year (including Timothee Chalamet's Wonka, and Zack Snyder's Rebel Moon) Aquaman 2 is still the only action blockbuster movie that can entertain a whole family. The franchise could once again surprise us. 

What Is Aquaman 2 About? 

In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrives in theaters on December 25th, when an ancient power is unleashed, Aquaman must forge an uneasy alliance with an unlikely ally to protect Atlantis, and the world, from irreversible devastation. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will see the return of Jason Momoa as Aquaman, Patrick Wilson as Orm, Amber Heard as Mera, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II as Black Manta, and Randall Park as Stephen Shin. Jani Zhao will play new character Stingray, Indya Moore will play Karshon, and Vincent Regan will play Atlan, who was previously portrayed by Graham McTavish in Aquaman. Pilou Asbaek has also joined the cast in a mystery role.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is directed by James Wan, with a script from David Leslie Johnson-McGoldrick. Producers include Wan and DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran.

Source: Deadline