After four weeks at the top of the U.S. box office, Barbie has met its match. Blue Beetle took command of the No. 1 spot this past weekend, August 18-20.
Blue Beetle pulled in an estimated $25.4 million while Barbie fell to second place with an estimated $21.5 million. This is the first time since July 21, 2023, that Barbie wasn’t the top-grossing movie of the weekend.
While most analysts are calling it a soft opening, one has to take under consideration that Blue Beetle didn’t get the same PR push as other films because of the ongoing Hollywood strike and the fact that Southern California just experienced its first tropical storm in 84 years.
The superhero film starring Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai) in the title role added another $18 million at the international box office from 63 markets. Still, this superhero movie has a way to go if it wants to recoup its $100+ million budget.
Overall, reviews have been positive for the DC Comics movie. It currently holds a certified fresh rating of 76% at the film review website Rotten Tomatoes. Remezcla called it a “charming and heartfelt comic-book movie” where “each family member commands the screen … with their authentic personality and unconditional love.”
It also recognized that while the release of Blue Beetle is a milestone for the Latine community – the first time in movie history that a Latine superhero is headlining their own live-action film from a major studio – they’ll have to make sure they continue to support it at the box office. “Now, it’s up to Latine moviegoers and talent to demand that this isn’t a one-off experiment,” Remezcla wrote. “If representation really does matter, then Blue Beetle should be just the beginning.”
This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, Blue Beetle being covered here wouldn’t exist.