Aquaman 2 Box Office Launches With $4.5 Million in Previews

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom earned $4.5 million at Thursday night previews, besting the numbers put up by Blue Beetle  and Shazam!: Fury of the Gods earlier this year, but still marking only about half of what The Flash got on its Thursday night. The movie is expected to earn between $35 and $40 million this weekend, including Christmas on Monday, which would be significantly less than Aquaman got in 2018. Of course, at the time, Aquaman‘s $67 million didn’t seem like a huge opening…and then it had long legs, going on to earn more than $1.1 billion and becoming the highest-grossing movie in the “DC Extended Universe.” Now, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom will wrap up that universe, and Warner Bros. is hoping for a strong outing after the disastrous box office performance of The Flash. 

It’s still going to be a pretty solid weekend for Warner Bros. Last week’s box office champ, Wonka, is expected to bring in another $20-25 million this weekend, giving Warners the two top slots. Other wide releases include Illumination’s Migration, the romantic comedy Anyone But You, and the sports biopic The Iron Claw starring Zac Efron. The top five is expected to go Aquaman – Wonka – Migration – Anyone But You – The Iron Claw.

Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom represents the last DC superhero movie that will take place in a shared universe before 2025’s reboot Superman: Legacy. Between now and then, the studio is expected to release The Batman 2 and Joker: Folie a Deux, but neither of those will feature DC Universe guest stars.

In Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which arrives in theaters on December 22nd, 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.

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.