James Gunn’s DCU Problems Worsen: Blue Beetle Earned Less Than the Most Disastrous DC Movie of the Decade
James Gunn has helmed some of the best movies of all time including Guardians of the Galaxy, Slither, and The Suicide Squad. He was appointed as the co-CEO of the DC Studios alongside Peter Safran in November 2022. Having complete control over the films, animation, and TV projects based on the DC comics, they have made quite a few shocking announcements.
James Gunn, who keeps becoming the center of one controversy or the other, has been trying his best to save the DCU as it has not been doing too well recently in terms of its movies’ box-office performances. However, his efforts in doing so are not turning out to be very fruitful considering that the latest DCEU movie, Blue Beetle performed worse than its predecessor.
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James Gunn’s DCU Sees Another Failure
James Gunn and Peter Safran had announced that they would be rebooting the DCU to give it a fresh start. Aquaman’s sequel Aquaman and The Lost Kingdom will be the last movie that will be released as part of the existing DCU. During this phase, a new superhero named Blue Beetle was introduced.
James Gunn had high hopes for the future of the Latino superhero which was portrayed by Cobra Kai fame Xolo Mariduena in a movie of eponymous name. Directed by Angel Manuel Soto, Blue Beetle was released in August 2023, and did not perform as well as expected in its opening weekend, what is even more concerning is that it has managed to underperform even Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which was financially disappointing for DCU.
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Blue Beetle was supposed to be released on the streaming platform that was formerly known as HBO Max. Later, Warner Bros. decided to give it a theatrical release as it was confident that it would do well. Unfortunately, the movie grossed a worldwide total of $128 million against an estimated production budget of $104 million. Zachary Levi-led Shazam! Fury of the Gods had grossed $132 million worldwide earlier this year leaving behind Blue Beetle by $4 million.
Reasons for Blue Beetle‘s Failure
Blue Beetle failed to be DC’s saving grace even though it received 78% which is a decent rating on the review-aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, this rating was better than any other DC project released this year so far. So, its disastrous performance would go down in history as the worst-performing movie in the DCEU.
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There were quite a few reasons that contributed to Blue Beetle‘s failure. The most important of these is the fact that fans find it a moot point to watch anything that is part of the DCU as James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced a reboot. This has led the audience to be indifferent to whatever DC is releasing currently.
The poor marketing of the movie also played a great role in the movie’s failure. Not to mention that Blue Beetle also had to suffer competition from The Equalizer 3, Barbie, and Oppenheimer. This failure is also beginning to signify the diminishing interest of the fans in the superhero genre. Hopefully, Aquaman 2 will bring newfound hope for DC.
