Aquaman Swims Past Wonder Woman and $800 Million at Worldwide Box Office, Sets Eyes on Batman v Superman for the DC Universe Throne

Thanks to a boost from the new year holiday period, Aquaman has made swift work of the gap to second-placed Wonder Woman — in the DC film universe bracket — at the worldwide box office, moving past its $821.8 million total as it hit $822.9 million (about Rs. 5,795.95 crores) during the week. The Jason Momoa-starrer brought in $67.68 million (about Rs. 476.48 crores) over New Year's Eve and New Year's Day across the globe, with $26.88 million (about Rs. 189.24 crores) from the US and $40.8 million (about Rs. 287.24 crores) from other markets. Aquaman now has Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ($873.6 million) squarely in its sights and could possibly mount a run to a billion dollars.

Aquaman Is Full of Ocean Wonder, but Also Endless Exposition

That will all depend on how Aquaman fares in January, which isn't a big month for new blockbusters. The Warner Bros.-DC film has beat out competition from Paramount Pictures' Transformers spin-off Bumblebee and Sony Pictures' Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse in the US, but that will change in its biggest market — China — later this week, as Bumblebee opens there. Box office analysts expect Aquaman to cross $900 million globally, which means it will soon be the best-performing DC universe film, with $1 billion on the cards. If that happens, it will only be the third DC film to do so, after The Dark Knight ($1.003 billion) and The Dark Knight Rises ($1.084 billion).

China has been the biggest earner for Aquaman, raking in $275.5 million (about Rs. 1,939.65 crores) since its release there nearly a month ago. It's now the second biggest superhero movie in China after Avengers: Infinity War. The film has added $216.2 million (about Rs. 1,522.15 crores) in its domestic US market in a little over two weeks, followed by the likes of South Korea ($30 million), Brazil ($24.3 million), Mexico ($23.5 million), the UK ($19.6 million), France ($16.7 million), Indonesia ($16.3 million), Russia ($15.4 million), Germany ($13.4 million) and Australia ($13.3 million). Aquaman has yet to open in Japan (February 8), though the country isn't considered big for DC. Italy was the newest market this week on Tuesday, where Aquaman registered the biggest DC opening with $1.8 million (about Rs. 12.67 crores).