'Aquaman' Now DC Films's Most Successful Movie At International Box Office

The DC Films era -- colloquially referred to as the "DC Extended Universe" -- has a new high water mark at the international box office, as Aquaman just became the biggest moneymaker since The Dark Knight Rises outside of North America.

The film has now earned in the neighborhood of $575 million at the international box office, and is expected to eventually pass The Dark Knight Rises ($636 million) to become the highest-grossing movie ever at the international box office based on a DC Comics property. To get there, it passed Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which had earned $543 million internationally.

The Jason Momoa film enjoyed early success at the international box office, so even though it has performed at the low end of DC's domestic grosses (it is expected to finish somewhere between Justice League and Man of Steel, making it DC Films's second-lowest North American draw), the massive worldwide success still makes for a hit in the studio's eyes.

Warner Bros. also likely had lower expectations for Aquaman, which was made for about $100 million less than Justice League and only featured one recognizable superhero.

The film is expected to pass $800 million in the next few days, and will likely earn $900 million-plus before its theatrical run ends. If it does that, it will edge out Spider-Man 3 to nudge its way into the top five solo superhero movies of all time at the worldwide box office. The odds are slim that it will come anywhere close to the $1 billion-plus Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, though, or Iron Man 3 and Black Panther, which each earned more than $1.25 billion.

From Warner Bros. Pictures and director James Wan comes an action-packed adventure that spans the vast, visually breathtaking underwater world of the seven seas, "Aquaman," starring Jason Momoa in the title role. The film reveals the origin story of half-human, half-Atlantean Arthur Curry and takes him on the journey of his lifetime—one that will not only force him to face who he really is, but to discover if he is worthy of who he was born to be... a king.

Aquaman is directed by James Wan and stars Jason Momoa (Arthur/Aquaman), Amber Heard (Mera), Nicole Kidman (Queen Atlanna), Patrick Wilson (Orm/Ocean Master), Willem Dafoe (Nuidis Vulko), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), Ludi Lin (Murk), Dolph Lundgren (King Nereus), Djimon Hounsou (The Fisherman King), Natalia Safran (Fisherman Queen), and Michael Beach (Jesse Kane).

Aquaman is in theaters now.

h/t: Forbes