Aquaman beat Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises to become DC’s highest-grossing movie of all time, setting the bar very high for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The first solo DC superhero film after the disastrous Justice League, Aquaman did not seem like an obvious candidate to become the DCEU’s highest-grossing film, let alone DC’s biggest movie of all time. However, the James Wan movie proved doubters wrong and cemented Aquaman as one of DC’s most important superheroes, putting an end to the famous “Aquaman is lame" joke.
While the MCU has made it seem like billion-dollar box offices are the norm for superhero films, crossing the billion-dollar mark is still a very difficult feat to perform – especially without an established franchise. So far, there are only four billion-dollar DC movies: The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Aquaman, and Joker. Those four DC movies represent three different DC franchises – Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, the DCEU, and the Todd Phillips Joker universe – which proves how different the history of the DC Films is compared to Marvel Studios. After The Dark Knight, it was easy to predict that The Dark Knight Rises would cross the billion-dollar mark, but from then on, trying to predict the DC films box office proved to be a very difficult task.
In theory, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Justice League had the biggest potential of surpassing The Dark Knight Rises as the highest-grossing DC film. If a solo Batman movie in 2012 was enough to make more than a billion dollars at the box office, it was safe to say that a movie featuring Batman and Superman or a Justice League film would easily cross that mark. However, Batman v Superman was far too divisive to sustain its record-breaking opening weekend, followed by a disastrous Justice League that barely broke even. Surprisingly, Justice League’s bad reception did not affect Aquaman that much, and the James Wan film managed to have a much more solid theatrical run than previous DC blockbusters. Wonder Woman had already proved that an origin story with good reviews could lead to a strong box office, but Aquaman took things to the next level by adding a sense of spectacle that made the film a big-screen must-see. The result was a film that, despite a not-so-special opening weekend, had strong enough legs to sustain a global success and finish its theatrical run with $1.148 billion at the box office.
How Aquaman Beat Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises At The Box Office
The Dark Knight, which was released in 2008, barely cross the billion-dollar mark, while The Dark Knight Rises, released in 2012, made $1.081 billion at the box office. Although inflation made it easier for Aquaman to beat The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises, the fact that an Aquaman film was able to perform as well as the two most successful Batman movies of all time is an outstanding feat. One major reason why Aquaman beat The Dark Knight Rises is the worldwide box office, especially in China. While The Dark Knight saw a much better China performance for the Christopher Nolan film compared to Batman Begins, Aquaman’s run in China was one of the strongest performances of a Hollywood blockbuster in a foreign market. Of Aquaman’s $1.148 billion box office total, $291.8 million came from China. In comparison, The Dark Knight Rises made only $52.8 million in China, although it’s important to notice that there were much fewer screenings in China in 2012 than there were for Aquaman in 2018.
Compared to Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, Aquaman was much more similar to today’s blockbuster movies, especially the MCU films. In other words, Aquaman had all the things that were proven successful in the last few years of blockbuster films – a connection to a shared universe, a popular actor playing a superhero, and a lot of action pieces. Despite Nolan always trying to make his movies feel as big as possible, Aquaman and Orm battling amidst a war of underwater kingdoms would always lead to a bigger cinematic event.
Why Aquaman Is The DCEU’s Most Successful Movie
To become the DCEU’s most successful movie, Aquaman had to combine everything that had worked for the franchise and ditch all the things that hadn’t. For example, Aquaman had all the spectacle that Batman v Superman’s Doomsday fight had, which obviously draws audiences to the biggest screen they can find, but it did not feature any controversial decisions like Batman killing and Superman almost giving up humanity. Aquaman also avoided major connections with Justice League apart from one Steppenwolf reference, a smart decision considering how bad the 2017 film was received. In addition, Jason Momoa, who had already played Aquaman in Batman v Superman and Justice League, proved that he was an inspired and great choice for the role of Arthur Curry. With Jason Momoa’s star power combined with James Wan’s talent in handling a blockbuster, Aquaman became a unique entry in the DCEU, offering an action-packed, fun adventure that other smaller-scale DC movies like Shazam and Birds of Prey could not match.
Will Any DC Movie Surpass Aquaman’s Box Office?
Ever since 2018, the only DC movie that came close to surpassing Aquaman was Joker. The Todd Phillips film claimed $1.074 billion at the box office, more than The Dark Knight and a little less than The Dark Knight Rises. Therefore, the Joker sequel, which is officially happening, is a strong contender to beat Aquaman’s box office. Joker: Folie à Deux will see Todd Phillips return as the director as well as Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as the Joker, plus the addition of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn in what is being described as a musical. While it can be said that Joker (2019) was a unique phenomenon, the Joker character is a huge box office draw. Should Joker: Folie à Deux be at least as good as the first Joker, then the Joker sequel could cross the billion-dollar mark and even surpass Aquaman to become the highest-grossing DC film of all time.
In terms of the DCEU, it is currently difficult to picture a movie that could surpass Aquaman’s box office, except for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The Flash also has a lot of potential to be one of DC’s biggest movies, but the behind-the-scenes controversies regarding star Ezra Miller and the recent course corrections by Warner Bros. through reshoots make The Flash’s box office too unpredictable.
How Much Can Aquaman 2 Make Compared To Aquaman
An obvious contender to surpass Aquaman’s box office is Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, as sequels usually expand the scope and the scale of the first movie. Aquaman director James Wan has returned for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and the filmmaker has been teasing ever since the first Aquaman movie that the sequel will have a better story. Should Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom keep the spectacle that made the first Aquaman a must-see while improving the story, then the sequel may have all the ingredients to be better than the first movie. However, whether Aquaman 2 will make more than Aquaman depends on how its theatrical run will play out worldwide, especially in China. Recently, some Marvel Studios moves have not premiered in China, plus DC’s latest theatrical film The Batman had an underwhelming performance in what was a key market for Aquaman. All of that considered, If Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has a similar run in China to Aquaman, then surpassing Aquaman’s $1.148 billion box office might be possible.
