Worldwide Aquaman has the crown with $1,148,528,393 thanks to its great American market, dominating DC’s China market, and consistent success in most countries.
Worldwide Edition
Shazam Fury of the Gods
The Flash
Blue Beetle
Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom
Joker: Folie à Deux
None have a Shot
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For the Domestic Crown The Dark Knight has it with 534,987,076.
It got the number one spot by doing so well in China. Without the Chinese market it was a slightly bigger hit than Batman V. Superman and Wonder Woman.
Hmmm, ok. But what was it that brought China out? Overall, I find it perplexing - the film’s success. All personal opinions and reviews aside.
1.) It’s Jason Momoa. A few nerds from SG Atlantis and GoT know him, but that’s it. Plus, these two nerd/geek franchises don’t have the same weight as say Star Wars. Momoa is not a name like Tom Cruise for example.
2.) It’s Aquaman! Again, all personal opinions aside, we all know of Aquaman usually being seen if not treated as the butt-end of a joke. Both comic people and general audiences do not really treat him seriously.
3.) I recall little to no fan demand. Many came from BvS with lots of hate BUT there were some saying they like Batfleck BUT let’s have someone else write and direct. Same for Gadot as Wonder Woman. Take Black Adam and people want a Dr. Fate movie, a Hawkman movie, a JSA movie. After the theatrical cut of JL I recall no “I can’t wait for Aquaman or The Flash or Cyborg, etc.” It was basically we want the Snyder Cut.
There is one common thing Chinese audiences love out of American movies and that is something DC movies highly lack but Aquaman had in abundance, giant monsters. Stuff like giant sea monsters battling each other is something they love. Looking at the fan service many attractive non-Asian actors (hence exotic to Chinese audiences) are wearing soaking wet skin tight outfits.
For the non-Chinese market remember how it made money. The first weekend was not impressive, but it had a whopping 5x multiplier (rounding down). That means people were not rushing to see it, but great word of mouth made them watch it later, and a lot of that is how great it works on the big screen.
I do not think that perspective of him made it to China. For America many of us had stopped thinking that thanks to stuff like his 90s comics, his animated appearances in Justice League, and all the promises of badass Aquaman.
At church many people said they were excited for Justice League just for Mamoa. I think a silent majority was really excited.
Another key detail are those fight scenes. The underwater ones are not in many blockbusters, and many people wanted to see that in theaters.
I think another key detail was how awesome Black Manta looked in the trailer.
One current liability is Amber Heard. At the time it was an asset. The general concensus for those few months was she was in the right and Depp was in the wrong. some social justice warriors would watch it to support her. If the film came out a little earlier or a few months later that would have been a problem.
Another factor is it is a rare easy to follow political thriller. Normally those are rather mopey and hard to follow (think Phantom Menace). Aquaman is a political thriller, yet it is very upbeat and happy while being very easy to follow.
Another factor was the Italy scenes (the movie made very good money there too). They are so beautiful and that whole part looked so great in theaters. Hence more great word of mouth, which gave the movie really amazing legs.
For worldwide, my gut is the Joker sequel. Here though definitely The Flash. I think it will play too much on different aspects of nostalgia. Here in the USA this is huge. I can see it being a huge film regardless of Miller’s issues. I think this is why they haven’t scrapped the project.
Same! Outside of folks like us, most people do not know, follow, or remember the issues of Miller. I mean this is Ezra Miller, not Tom Cruise, lol. Not that huge of a name. Hell, Tom Cruise hasn’t been in the news. People know he’s an a-hole and his movies still sell, lol. I mean, they call it news for a reason. And as of lately, Miller ain’t news.
Considering DC doesn’t have that ability (Warner Brothers Pictures OTOH…), its The Flash.
I’m as excited as anyone that a childhood favorite Batman is back on the big screen. Its just somewhat annoying that the other characters are getting glossed over in favor of him and him alone.
Supergirl should be getting some attention. Granted, she obviously isn’t a returning, well-known favorite like Keaton is, but still…its the first big-screen Supergirl in nearly 4 decades. Kind-of a big deal and worthy of attention.
I can already see the backlash if Keaton isn’t on-screen as much as some hope he’ll be. It’ll be the Darth Maul syndrome all over again.
