Blue Beetle Gets Stronger CinemaScore Than The Flash

Blue Beetle is well on its way to winning the box office in its first weekend in theaters as movie-goers are responding exceptionally well to the Angel Manuel Soto picture. As the DC film eyes a $25 million opening stateside, fans are loving the picture with its earliest returns. In addition to a 92-percent Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes, the film has earned a B+ CinemaScore.

That honor is slightly better than Andy Muschietti’s The Flash, which earned a “B” CinemaScore before performing abysmally at the box office. The Flash ended up grossing just $268 million at the global box office against a reported production budget of $200 million (minus Prints and Advertising). Though Blue Beetle’s opening is much smaller than The Scarlet Speedster’s $55 million, its production budget was only a reported $104 million, a shoestring budget compared to the wallet’s of most superhero blockbusters today.

Box office insiders say the film should make at least $25 million domestically this weekend and many anticipate a strong word-of-mouth campaign from the film because of its Latino demographic.

What is Blue Beetle about?

From Warner Bros. Pictures comes Blue Beetle, which is now in theaters, marking the DC superhero’s first time on the big screen. The film, directed by Angel Manuel Soto, stars Xolo Maridueña in the title role as well as his alter ego, Jaime Reyes. Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.

Starring alongside Maridueña are Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Raoul Max Trujillo, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez (the “Rio and “Smurf” franchises). The film also stars Belissa Escobedo and Harvey Guillén. Soto directs from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, based on characters from DC. John Rickard and Zev Foreman are producing, with Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Garrett Grant serving as executive producers.