Aquamanhas officially surpassedSuicide Squadat the worldwide box office. Following the release ofJustice Leaguelast year, which managed to disappoint both critically and commercially, Warner Bros. needed to rethink their strategy with DC Films. As such, a lot of pressure was placed upon the shoulders of director James Wan to deliver a satisfying and successful movie withAquamanand, safe to say, he’s done exactly that, given how well the movie is doing from a financial standpoint.
As of this writing,Aquamanhas grossed $751.2 million at the worldwide box office. That puts it ahead of 2016’sSuicide Squad, which brought in $746.8 million during its run. Much of that has to do with overseas audiences really enjoying Jason Momoa’s first solo movie as Arthur Curry, as DC’s latest had brought in $562.4 million internationally. The lion’s share of that total is from China, where the movie has made a very impressive $232.9 million so far.Aquamanhad previously surpassed the totals of bothJustice League($657.9 million) andMan of Steel($668 million).
As it stands,Aquamanis still the lowest-grossing movie in the current run of live-action DC movies at the domesticbox office, having made $188.7 million up to this point. However, the movie was released internationally ahead of its domestic debut. So it’s not as though U.S. audiences aren’t interested in the undersea epic, it’s just that they haven’t had quite as much time to throw their money at it.Wonder Womanstill holds the top spot, domestically, with an impressive $412.5 million total.Aquamanwill probably have a tough time overtaking Diana Prince in that category, but looking at the big picture, it seems likely that there will be a new king of the DC universe at the box office.
Globally,Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justiceis thehighest-grossing movie in the DCU franchiseto date, with $873.6 million. ButAquamanis going to benefit from a minimal amount of heavy-hitting competition in January and, assuming things continue to go well, the movie is on track to cross the $1 billion mark. That would make it the first DC movie of any kind to cross that mark sinceThe Dark Knight Risesdid so in 2012. The fact that anAquamansolo movie is, in all likelihood, going to outgross a movie that has both Batman and Superman in it is something that would have been truly unthinkable even just a few years ago.
Favorable reviews, when compared to many other recent DC movies, have helped the situation.Aquamancurrently holds a 64 percent approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, to go with a very solid 81 percent audience rating. For the sake of comparison,Suicide Squadhas a very poor 27 percent critic rating and a 60 percent audience score.Wonder Woman, again, is still the champion in this department, with a 93 percent critic rating and 88 percent audience score. These figures were provided byBox Office Mojo.
