Blue Beetle Box Office Tracking Is Low but Promising for New DC Superhero

DC's Blue Beetle is the next superhero blockbuster to enter theaters, and it's currently tracking for a relatively modest opening weekend at the box office. According to the latest tracking numbers, the Angel Manuel Soto picture is expected to make around $30 million at domestic exhibitors. The sum would be nearly half of the opening weekend carried by The Flash earlier this summer, which was considered by most to be a sizable box office bomb.

That said, Deadline says word-of-mouth on Blue Beetle is already at surprising levels, suggesting $30M total could balloon much higher. According to the trade, Beetle is polling incredibly well with Hispanic and Latino audiences, and data points towards a bigger opening than both Alita: Battle Angel ($28.5M) and Meg 2: The Trench ($30M).

Is Blue Beetle in the DCU?

By all accounts, the upcoming feature is set in Warner Bros.' new DC Universe. DC Studios boss James Gunn has confirmed as much, and Soto says the film can be set on the timeline wherever Gunn and Peter Safran determine necessary.

"I think that's the beauty of it, right? I think it's pretty vague. We know Batman exists. We know Flash exists. We know Superman exists, but we don't say how, where or what," Soto told us earlier this month. "I think it opens up the doors to any interpretation or any direction James Gunn wants to go and because it is setting Jaime up, what happens now moving forward is game. I think that's why they decided Jaime can be the first superhero of the new DCU because he is his own hero."

From Warner Bros. Pictures comes Blue Beetle, which arrives in theaters on August 18th, marking the DC superhero's first time on the big screen. The film, directed by Angel Manuel Soto, stars Xolo Maridueña in the title role as well as his alter ego, Jaime Reyes. Recent college grad Jaime Reyes returns home full of aspirations for his future, only to find that home is not quite as he left it. As he searches to find his purpose in the world, fate intervenes when Jaime unexpectedly finds himself in possession of an ancient relic of alien biotechnology: the Scarab. When the Scarab suddenly chooses Jaime to be its symbiotic host, he is bestowed with an incredible suit of armor capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the Super Hero BLUE BEETLE.

Starring alongside Maridueña are Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Raoul Max Trujillo, with Oscar winner Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez (the "Rio and "Smurf" franchises). The film also stars Belissa Escobedo and Harvey Guillén. Soto directs from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, based on characters from DC. John Rickard and Zev Foreman are producing, with Walter Hamada, Galen Vaisman and Garrett Grant serving as executive producers.