So far Aquaman is a big hit, if not quite, say, a Black Panther or an Avengers: Infinity War. In two weeks of release, the movie starring excitable SNL host Jason Momoa grossed, in America, and as of this writing, $238 million — about what Justice League made here in its whole run but still just shy of half of Wonder Woman’s total domestic haul. And yet guess what? Globally it’s already the highest grossing DCEU film in history (i.e., the six years it’s been a thing).
EW noted the occasion, pointing out that, as of Saturday, the solo film for the fishy super-bro had netted $887 million — enough to sail by the global tally of the franchise’s previous box office champ, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. That one scrounged up $837 million, despite terrible reviews that widely saw it as a butt-numbing bummer.
How is Aquaman — a movie about a guy who can talk to fish — making this much money? You can blame a whopping 75% of the grosses on international box office. In China alone it’s made a huge $279 million. Wonder Woman, meanwhile, only had half its grosses — $821 million total — come from other countries.
Please note, though, that this is the DCEU we’re talking about, not all DC films ever. Aquaman is still shy of the total grosses of The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, which made $1 billion and $1.08 billion respectively. Also remember that Justice League, the DCEU’s Avengers-style super mash-up, and the first time that Aquaman’s hero bellowed “my man!”, only made $657 million total back in 2017.
(Via EW)