Even as box office aficionados are eager to declare Blue Beetle yet another flop from DC, there is one small but important reason it may not be as big of a financial failure as everyone already believes.
You see, even as other movies that were given the “flop” moniker from earlier this year suffered due to over-inflated budgets – such as Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – Blue Beetle isn’t necessarily in that same boat. That’s because the latest adventures of Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt and Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones each cost around $300 million to make. Due to poor return on investment at the box office, both are estimated to lose their respective studios $100 million.
Unlike those behemoths, Blue Beetle has a relatively modest budget of only $120 million, according to The Numbers. With a smaller budget, there is a shorter runway to profitability. So although the film centered on Xolo Maridueña’s Jaime Reyes getting endowed with superpowers from an alien scarab may sound like it has already flopped due to its $25 million opening domestic weekend, that doesn’t mean there is no hope for the title to turn the tide. After all, unlike the $200 million The Flash that was released earlier this year, Blue Beetle is enjoying positive word of mouth from fans and critics with a respectable Certified Fresh score of 78 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, significantly higher than the Scarlet Speedster’s middling 64 percent.
Though The Flash had an opening weekend of $55 million, it also had nearly double the budget of Blue Beetle. Plus, it’s still early days in Blue Beetle‘s box office run, meaning it is still entirely possible that the film will find a fanbase during its theatrical window.
Blue Beetle is currently playing at a theater near you.