Before its premiere, Aquaman was a bit of a question mark for the often troubled DCEU. The character has never had the same mainstream success as Batman or Superman. Furthermore, Justice League - which was the proper debut of Jason Momoa’s iteration of Aquaman - underperformed and is considered a box office disappointment. Despite those fears and issues, Aquaman is shaping up to be one of, if not the most successful, superhero franchise for DC Comics and Warner Bros.

The prediction of Aquaman’s billion dollar box office total comes from Forbes. The prediction was reached by taking the current box office totals of Aquaman, both foreign and domestic, and combining it with the movie’s track record to increase its sales. Aquaman’s opening might’ve been weaker than other DCEU movies in the United States, but it’s been consistent in success. Aquaman topped the box office for the long Christmas weekend and it’s not showing any hints of slowing down.

Aquaman’s box office is primarily boosted by its international ticket sales. The movie is already Warner Bros.’ highest grossing movie ever in China. The domestic numbers certainly aren’t hurting Aquaman, though. On Christmas Day alone, Aquaman earned about $22 million at the North American box office. This is a figure that few movies have achieved. With this Christmas day total, Aquaman joins company with several Star Wars sequels, Robert Downey Jr.’s Sherlock Holmes and James Cameron’s Avatar. This trend is also very good news for Aquaman and the DC Extended Universe as a whole.

For starters, Aquaman’s strong box office showing makes it a near certainty that there will be a sequel. This doesn’t necessarily make Aquaman unique. Man of Steel and Wonder Woman both received (or will receive) sequels with Batman v. Superman and Wonder Woman 1984, respectively. Even Suicide Squad, which was much more poorly reviewed than Aquaman, is receiving a quasi-follow-up in the form of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of Harley Quinn) - not to mention the direct Suicide Squad sequel currently being written by James Gunn. This is due in large part to Suicide Squad’s high box office gross internationally. Since Aquaman had one of the lower budgets of DCEU movies, its gross might be even higher.

James Wan still hasn’t signed on for an Aquaman sequel. However the director has an obvious passion for the project, he told fans to blame him personally if the film was a flop. Wan also planted several seeds in Aquaman for a sequel, including the post-credit sequence, which is nearly all about Aquaman’s future. It would be very surprising if Wan isn’t recruited for the sequel, which means there should be more of the same when it comes to Aquaman in the DCEU.

More: Aquaman 2: How The Ending Sets Up An Even Better Sequel

Source: Forbes

  • Aquaman Release Date: 2018-12-21 Shazam! Release Date: 2019-04-05 Joker Release Date: 2019-10-04 Birds of Prey Release Date: 2020-02-07 Wonder Woman 2 Release Date: 2020-12-25