It had to happen sometime. After ruling the box office standings for four weekends, Barbie falls to second place as a DC superhero picture The blue beetle takes the main place.
The blue beetle expected to open to $25 million to $27 million in North America after earning $10 million on Friday, including $3.3 million in previews. It remains to be seen what effect the impending hurricane will have on grosses in Los Angeles, the film’s main market, and other parts of the region.
It’s easy to understand why the superhero picture might feel a little blue. Not only that The blue beetle is coming in behind expectations — going into the weekend, it was tracking to suggest $28 million to $32 million — but it’s also looking at one of the lowest openings ever for title in the DC Extended Universe, not adjusted for inflation.
Director Angel Manuel Soto’s The blue beetle the first live-action superhero film in Hollywood built around a Latino protagonist and hopes to be a breakthrough film for Latino audiences and for Latino representation in front of and behind the camera. Xolo Maridueña stars in the title role opposite Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén and Becky G.
According to the PostTrak exit polling service, 40 percent of ticket buyers on Friday were Latino (normally, it’s probably 30 percent).
The blue beetleThe launch was hampered by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which meant that Soto’s team could not participate in the promotional tour. In terms of audience response and demo breakdown, it earned a B+ CinemaScore, and played heavily male (66 percent).
Barbie is looking at a gross fifth weekend of $20 million to $21 million or more in North America, followed by Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer third with $11 million. From Universal, Oppenheimer We’ll hit another major milestone this weekend when it clears the $700 million mark worldwide to become Nolan’s fourth biggest film of all time.
Universal’s raunchy canine comedy Streets is set to open to $8.5 million without bark, putting the picture in a close battle with Paramount’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem for fourth place.
Streets, which also earned a B+ CinemaScore, is the latest in a string of R-rated summer comedies that fell flat at the box office. The star-studded voice cast includes Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park and Josh Gad. Similar to The blue beetlethe picture did not manage to insert the voice in advertising plans.
The numbers will be updated on Sunday morning.
