For anyone still wondering whether Arthur Curry can hold his own as a commercially viable solo superhero, the continuing success of Aquaman in the China market should be all the confirmation you need.
Gitesh Pandya of Box Office Guru has just reported that James Wan’s new movie has grossed a hefty $189.2 million in its first ten days, and while the superhero genre has seen higher (Avengers: Infinity War took $191 million in the region on its opening weekend alone), this still comfortably surpasses the ten-day figures boasted by the likes of Captain America: Civil War ($155.8 million), Thor: Ragnarok ($95.2 million), Logan ($85.1 million) and Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice ($85.1 million).
As for Justice League, Aquaman managed to beat its DCEU predecessor’s China total in just four days, suggesting that the superhero franchise is now commercially back on track. Of course, there’s no guarantee that things will go just as well when the film arrives in North America, but between the movie’s record-breaking pre-sales, impressive box office projections, and the strongest critical response of any DCEU entry save for Wonder Woman, the signs all indicate that Wan’s feature will continue its winning streak in the coming weeks.
With sequel talks reported earlier this month to already be happening at Warner Bros., it certainly looks like Arthur Curry has a future in this series yet, and while Wan is under no contractual obligation to stick around for follow-ups, actor Jason Momoa seems more than happy to stay on.
But before we get too caught up in what’s to come for the character, you can judge for yourself if Aquaman deserves all the success it’s been seeing when the film hits theaters on December 21st.