When it comes to big, tentpole movies, the likes of Star Wars, Marvel, and Avatar might get most of the fanfare, but films based on DC Comics characters do pretty well too. Not only does DC have a legion of fans, but thanks to the likes of Batman, Superman, Harley Quinn, and the Joker, DC makes big bucks at the box office too!
From 1978’s Superman: The Movie, through to 1989’s Batman and 2017’s Wonder Woman, movies featuring DC heroes and villains are big business. Sure, some don’t always work out as planned (Jonah Hex, Green Lantern, Shazam!: Fury of the Gods, etc), but a large number do perfectly fine and are amongst the highest grossing movies of all time.
But out of all the DC movies which have been released (The Lego Batman Movie, Blue Beetle, etc), what is the most successful? Which film rules the roost as the most successful DC movie of all time?
For all the details and more, keep reading.
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The highest grossing DC movie
To date, the highest grossing DC movie is 2018’s Aquaman. The film – which stars Jason Mamoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman – has taken more money at the worldwide box office than Batman Forever (1995), The Dark Knight (2008), Joker (2019), or The Batman (2022).
Back in 2018, after an incredibly successful theatrical run, Aquaman ended its cinematic journey with a whopping $1,152,028,393 at the worldwide box office. This figure pushed the film into the lead as the most successful DC movie, and cemented Aquaman’s status as an icon.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012) was previously the No. 1 DC Comics movie, at $1,114,085,030, but Aquaman made short work of this total. And even with re-releases, The Dark Knight Rises has not been able to overtake Aquaman.
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Charting Aquaman’s box office success
Here is how Aquaman achieved its rise to success…
Dec 8th/9th 2018
Over the weekend of December 8th/9th 2018, Aquaman kicked off its staggered worldwide release by opening in China. And as it turned out, this proved to be a masterstroke as Chinese audiences were very keen to watch the movie.
How keen? Extremely!
Aquaman opened to an impressive $93,600,000! This is damn good going for (at the time) a lesser-known DC hero, and this initial figure got the movie off to a great start.
Jan 3rd 2019
Aquaman continued to open in other territories throughout December, in the run-up to the Christmas period, and by January 3rd 2019, Aquaman had overtaken Wonder Woman (2017) at the worldwide box office. The film accumulated $822 million to Wonder Woman‘s $821 million.
Jan 6th 2019
By January 6th, Aquaman officially became the highest grossing entry in the DC Extended Universe. The film accumulated more than $940 million at the worldwide box office, surpassing the $873.6 million made by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice back in 2016.
With no major signs of slowing down, Aquaman was on course to break the $1 billion barrier within a week. Achieving this feat would not only be great news for all involved with the film’s production, including director James Wan, but it would also give Aquaman a strong chance of becoming the most profitable DC movie of all-time.
Jan 13th 2019
By January 13th, Aquaman hit a major milestone. The movie passed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, accumulating $1,020,261,781.
Jan 24th 2019
Aquaman continued to prove popular and accumulated $1,067,152,007 at the worldwide box office. At this point, it needed to rake in another $18 million to surpass The Dark Knight Rises and take the crown as the No.1 DC movie.
February 2019 and beyond
After surpassing The Dark Knight Rises, Aquaman‘s box-office total continued to rise, although by this point it was entering the final days of its theatrical run. The film then ended its run with a total of $1,152,028,393.
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Top ten highest grossing DC movies
Although Aquaman‘s financial results are very impressive, the movie sits amongst good company. It is one of many DC film to have performed well at the box-office.
Here is the list of the top ten highest grossing DC movies of all-time:
- 1) Aquaman (2018) – $1,152,028,393
- 2) The Dark Knight Rises (2012) – $1,114,085,030
- 3) Joker (2019) – $1,078,958,282
- 4) The Dark Knight (2008) – $1,029,266,147
- 5) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) – $874,362,803
- 6) Wonder Woman (2017) – $823,970,682
- 7) The Batman (2022) – $772,245,583
- 8) Suicide Squad (2016) – $749,200,054
- 9) Man of Steel (2013) – $670,145,518
- 10) Justice League (2017) – $661,326,987
Source: Box Office Mojo
Not bad going, right? And everyone is always quick to dismiss DC’s performances.
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