Summary
Aquaman 2’s box office numbers from Thursday previews show the final DCEU movie is already off to a worse start thanThe FlashandThe Marvels.
Fans have waited for five years forAquaman2.The firstAquamanmovie starring Jason Momoa was released in December 2018. It did well in its first three-day opening from December 21 to July 29, 2025, making $67.9 million. Initially, Warner Bros. planned to release the sequel on Jul 31, 2025. However, theAquaman 2release date was movedto a year later. Several things happened during the long wait,with one of the cast members, Amber Heard, marred with controversy due to her high-profile defamation case against ex-husband Johnny Depp.
RELATED:Aquaman 2’s Rotten Tomatoes Score Is One Of The DCEU’s Worst So Far
On Thursday previews,Aquaman 2only made $4.5 million at the domestic box office. It had a worse start thanThe Flash, which made $9.7 million, andThe Marvels' $6.6. million from Thursday previews. The sequel is the final installment of the DCEU before it gets rebooted, and it seems that it will not beat the performance of the first movie. Considering its current earnings,Aquaman and the Lost Kingdomis only expected to make between $35 million and $40 million in the four-day holiday weekend, including Christmas Day on Monday,Varietyreported. The expected earnings at the box office are not up to par.
When the firstAquamanfilm was released five years ago, it made $9 million for its Thursday previews – the sequel only made half of that – and $67 million for its opening weekend. Despite the modest opening, it soared and made $335 million in North America and $1.15 billion globally. For this year’s DEC movies,The Flashmade $55 million opening,Blue Beetle$25.4 million, andShazam: Fury of the Gods$30.5 million. On Marvel Studios' end,The Marvelsmade the lowest opening by only collecting $47 million. However,Aquaman 2is expected to make less thanThe MarvelsandThe Flash, with anticipated earnings as low as $35 million for its opening.
Aquaman 2has a slim chance of winning the audience over the weekend because a diverse group of other movies are available for the festive season, like the animatedMigrationand Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell’s rom-comAnyone but You. Additionally, Timothée Chalamet’sWonkais still showing. The box office champ last week is looking forward to making $21 to $23 million more in its second weekend. Thepoor performance ofAquaman 2at the box officewas not a total surprise. Many expressed their disapproval of the production’s decision to keep Heard.
Several said they would not watchAquaman 2despite their fondness for Momoa because they didn’t want to support any project with Heard on it. For the 37-year-old actress' part, she previously said during the televised defamation trial that she fought her way to keep the role, and her screentime was reportedly significantly reduced. Although Heard was still part of the film,Mera wasn’t featured in theAquaman 2promotional posterand latest trailer released, perhaps to appease fans who said they would not watch theAquamansequel. It seemed that the efforts to keep Heard’s involvement low-key were not enough to convince those people to change their minds because not as many watched the sequel. Also, one should not put all the blame forAquaman 2’s low earnings on Heard because there are other factors at play, like the timing of the release and the storyline. Its Rotten Tomatoes score is even one of DCEU’s worst so far.
Aquaman 2is now playing in theaters.
DC
DC is a brand of superhero comics, television shows, movies, video games, merchandise, and more. The company owns the rights to popular characters like Batman, The Suicide Squad, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, and many more.
