‘The Blue Bug’ surpasses ‘Barbie’ at the box office

DC superhero movie “Blue Beetle” led the weekend ticket sales with a modest $25.4 million opening, according to studio estimates on Sunday, pushing “Barbie” out of the top charts after a record-breaking run that painted movie theaters pink for a month. downloaded it.

The “Barbie” phenomenon isn’t over yet. Greta Gerwig’s film, which was Warner Bros.’s highest-grossing film ever domestically earlier this week, managed to stay at #1 again in its fifth weekend with $21.5 million. Up to $567.3 million in North America and a dazzling $1.28 billion worldwide.

The other half of “Barbenheimer” continues to perform quite well for a movie that’s released.

Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” grossed $10.6 million in its fifth week. With a domestic total of $285.2 million, “Oppenheimer” now has the distinction of being the biggest blockbuster ever to go down to #1 at the weekend box office. The previous record holder for this unexpected stat is 2016’s “Sing,” which grossed $270.3 million, overshadowed by “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” and “Hidden Figures.”

Universal Pictures’ “Oppenheimer” was even more successful abroad. Global gross to date stands at an estimated $717.8 million.

“Blue Beetle,” starring Xolo Maridueña, fell short of expectations and recorded one of the lowest debuts for a DC Comics movie. Although previously scheduled for streaming only, Warner Bros. chose to release “Blue Beetle,” the first DC movie starring a Latino superhero, in late summer, a typically quiet period at the box office.

The production price tag of approximately $105 million was lower for “Blue Bug” than for an average superhero movie. One of the last releases produced under an earlier regime at DC Studios, where James Gunn and Peter Safran took the reins last year.

Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, the film received solid reviews – certainly out of DC’s three previous films (“The Flash”, “Black Adam” and “Shazam! Fury of the Gods”) released this year. it was better. . “Blue Beetle” (76% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) is a rare comic book movie that puts a Hispanic cast front and center.

But she’s also faced some tough luck, and not just in the unexpected staying power of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer.” Southern California was preparing for Hurricane Hilary on Sunday, potentially reducing ticket sales in the area. (Los Angeles was still its biggest market.) And like the latest releases, “Blue Beetle,” which grossed $18 million internationally, didn’t have a cast to promote the movie due to the ongoing actor strike.

Universal’s raunchy R-rated dog comedy “Strays” showed even less bite. The film, which also included Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx in the voice cast, ranked fifth with $8.4 million. Comedies have often had trouble in theaters in recent years, but “Strays” has been particularly difficult due to the unavailability of a starred cast.

“Strays” was narrowly surpassed by “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”. The Paramount Pictures animated film made $8.4 million in its third weekend, bringing its domestic total to $88.1 million.

Estimated ticket sales in US and Canadian theaters Friday through Sunday, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released on Monday.

1. “The Blue Bug”, $25.4 million.

2. “Barbie”, $21.5 million.

3. “Oppenheimer”, $10.6 million.

4. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” $8.4 million.

5. “The Streets”, $8.3 million.

6. “Meg 2: The Trench”, $6.7 million.

7. “Talk to Me”, $3.2 million.

8. “Haunted Mansion”, $3 million.

9. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One”, $2.7 million.

10. “Demeter’s Last Journey”, $2.5 million.