James Wan’s Aquaman is shaping up to be every bit the box office success domestically that its record-breaking overseas performance suggested, with the movie now surpassing the first week gross of last year’s Justice League.
As of today, it’s said that Arthur Curry’s standalone debut has taken in a total of $137.2 million from North American cinemas, having managed a gross $14.6 million on Thursday. This puts the Jason Momoa-led movie ahead of the commercially underwhelming but bigger-budgeted Justice League, which grossed $130.8 million domestically on its first week. What’s more, Deadline estimates that Aquaman is on course to beat Justice League’s global total of $657.9 million by the end of this coming weekend. Not bad for a film that’s based around roughly the fifth most famous League member.
All in all, this is good news for Warner Bros., and if the pic keeps performing as expected, then Aquaman could well be the first entry in the DCEU to pass the $1 billion mark. That remains to be seen, but after the lackluster performance of last year’s Justice League, it’s clear either way that the superhero saga is ending 2018 in a far more stable position, with Wan’s flick currently standing at an impressive global total of $614.8 million.
Needless to say, a sequel to Arthur Curry’s first adventure seems all but inevitable, and while it’s currently unclear whether James Wan will still be along for the ride, the new Aquaman’s post-credits scene at least hints at the conflict to come. Stay tuned for further details, but in the meantime, we’ll find out if the DCEU can maintain the momentum of this current success when Shazam! hits theaters on April 5th, 2019.