Blue Beetle Set To Dethrone Barbie At The Box Office (But It May Still Underwhelm)

It's been a tough few weeks for any movies not titled "Barbie" or "Oppenheimer." While films like "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" and "Talk to Me" have performed well for themselves, no August movie has really been able to break through the conversation that's been going on ever since "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" were released in late July. "Oppenheimer," for its part, has made well over $600 million despite being an R-rated, 3-hour-long drama, while Greta Gerwig's "Barbie" has already crossed $1 billion at the box office.

The latter title has the potential to dethrone "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" as this year's highest-grossing movie and has already broken several previously long-standing box office records. With all that in mind, it looks like this weekend will be the first in nearly a month where "Barbie" doesn't hold the No. 1 spot. Indeed, a new report from Variety reveals that "Blue Beetle" is on track to be this weekend's highest-grossing movie. The new DC superhero film, which is, like "Barbie," a Warner Bros. Discovery title, reportedly raked in $10 million on its opening day (counting its $3.3 million early preview earnings).

Right now, "Blue Beetle" is expected to gross around $25 million in its opening weekend. That'll give it the weekend's top box office spot, but it's not enough to get "Blue Beetle" off to a particularly explosive start. On the contrary, the film is on track to earn less in its first weekend than both of Warner Bros.' previous 2023 superhero movies, "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" and "The Flash," which are still considered major box office disappointments.

"Blue Beetle" may be on the verge of opening lower than "The Flash" and "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," but its debut earnings shouldn't be seen as nearly as disappointing as those two films' initial numbers. "Fury of the Gods" was, notably, a sequel to a generally well-liked DC superhero film, while "The Flash" had several noteworthy cameos, a massive multiversal premise, and a whole lot of early insider praise going for it. Despite those factors, both films ended their theatrical runs with lackluster financial results.

"Blue Beetle" isn't a sequel, nor is it a massive, timeline-resetting addition to a long-running franchise. As a matter of fact, it was originally meant to be an HBO Max original before it was eventually upgraded to a theatrical-first release. Its production budget was reportedly smaller than that of most modern superhero movies as well, which means its bar for financial success is lower than some might think. Unlike "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," the film didn't have the benefit of a full promotional cycle featuring its stars, either, due to the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.

"Blue Beetle" also has a lot more positivity surrounding it than either "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" or "The Flash," both of which received largely mixed and negative reviews. Most Rotten Tomatoes critics have praised "Blue Beetle" — making it the first Certified Fresh DC movie since 2021's "The Suicide Squad." Whether or not the positive buzz surrounding the film will end up carrying it to some form of box office success remains to be seen. For now, its makers can at least take some pride in knowing it's the first movie in four weeks that's been strong enough to take the top spot away from "Barbie."