It will be a big year for the DC Universe once again, and here is a prediction for how much each 2023 DC movie will make at the box office. The DCU's future went through a dramatic shakeup in 2022 behind the scenes and through what transpired at the box office. The Batman announced itself as a new franchise led by Robert Pattinson, while Black Adam's box office bomb has left Dwayne Johnson out of future plans. The franchise's future now rests in the hands of James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are co-CEOs of DC Studios and working on a 10-year plan to create a universe that stands on its own (and rivals Marvel).
Before audiences see what the DCU future looks like, plenty of eyes are on the 2023 DC movie slate to see how their reception and box office performance factor in. There are certainly reasons to be excited about the film releases, but some skepticism also exists as questions swirl around if any will be kept as part of the DCU's future. Furthermore, it is fair to wonder if audiences are that invested in the current lineup after a few disappointing box office results and the reboot expectation could make some entries viewed as lame ducks by audiences. Here's a prediction for the 2023 DC movie box office results.
Shazam: Fury of the Gods Box Office Prediction: $450M
The first DC 2023 movie is Shazam! made $366 million worldwide upon its release in April 2019. The sequel faces a crowded lineup of competition, with Creed III opening the week before, Adam Driver's 65 opening the same day, and John Wick: Chapter 4 coming the week after. This presents an early hurdle for Shazam: Fury of the Gods, as it will need to have a very strong opening and manage to fight off a flurry of highly anticipated movies.
There is limited box office data regarding DCU sequels that could be used to compare Shazam 2's box office potential. That means predicting how much this 2023 DC movie will make at the box office is open to debate. There has been limited marketing for the movie to this point, leaving it unclear how high interest is in the film. One metric that could be used is trailer views, where Shazam 2's official trailer garnered 17 million views on Warner Bros' YouTube page. For reference, both Black Adam's trailers generated 30M views, and The Batman's trailer has 57M views.
Based on the apparent interest levels in Shazam: Fury of the Gods, the sequel could make $450 million at the box office. This would represent an $84M increase over the original and result in the movie earning more than Black Adam at the box office. While the data does not necessarily this outcome, audiences are at least familiar with Zachary Levi's Shazam from the first film. Assuming director David F. Sandberg delivers another very well-reviewed blockbuster, Shazam: Fury of the Gods' box office making close to $500M is doable.
The Flash Box Office Prediction: $700M
Seeing how much Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, who has already been in three DCU movies but in ing roles. It will be the first time Flash leads a solo film and comes with a formidable lineup of movies releasing around it. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse opens two weeks before, drawing competition for DC's superhero movie. It also opens up against Disney's animated film Elemental and two weeks before Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny could dominate.
The biggest question facing The Flash's box office is which narrative will lead the way as the film opens. Star Ezra Miller has been a controversial figure in recent years thanks to their off-screen behavior, but working on their mental health in recent months has prevented more bad publicity from coming. Still, some might opt out of seeing the movie because of Ezra Miller's controversies. On the flip side, The Flash has repeatedly been said to be one of DC's best movies since The Dark Knight thanks to director Andy Muschietti and could get a big nostalgia bump through Michael Keaton's Batman return.
With so many variables at play, The Flash's box office prediction being $700 million feels right. That would be more than Man of Steel ($657M) but less than The Batman ($770M) and Wonder Woman ($822M). However, The Flash is not as popular of a character as DC's Trinity. This speaks more to the film's reported quality and the excitement that could come through The Flash's multiverse story winning out. If the movie is even better than imagined and Ezra Miller's potential apologetic publicity tour works, it could climb even higher.
Blue Beetle Box Office Prediction: $400M
The DCU launches a new potential franchise in 2023 with 2023 box office in the weeks that follow its release. That could be huge for a coming-of-age movie that also is the first superhero movie starring a Latino hero.
Since Blue Beetle could be able to tap into a similarly younger demographic and prove why Jaime Reyes is sometimes compared to Spider-Man, the film could be a pleasant box office surprise. The best comparison for it might be Shazam!, as both films introduced newer DC characters to audiences. Shazam!'s $366M haul in 2019 then becomes a solid baseline for Blue Beetle to build on possibly. The Latino community represents 24% of all movie-going audiences (according to a 2021 research report from The Motion Picture Association). If this demographic responds to seeing themselves represented in this way, Blue Beetle's box office climbing over $400M is possible.
Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Box Office Prediction: $1 Billion
As the Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's box office is left in a precarious position when it releases on December 25. The movie will be the final major blockbuster released in 2023 and will likely have very little competition in of new tentpoles that attract mass audiences. This is good news for the Aquaman sequel and its potential to replicate the success of the James Wan-directed and Jason Momoa-starring original. The first Aquaman's box office shocked everyone as it made over $1.1 billion worldwide.
The path for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom to repeat this success seems simple on paper: deliver another action-packed superhero film filled with adventure, great visuals, and fun characters. However, just how high Aquaman 2's box office climbs could depend on a release in China. The original Aquaman made $291M in the international territory alone, but China recently has become stricter about which Hollywood movies get released there. Without one of the world's biggest box office markets, the first Aquaman would have made $856M worldwide - an excellent performance that still would have topped Wonder Woman.
Despite the potential of not releasing in China and a looming DCU reboot, there is still a path for Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom's box office to deliver one final hit for the past DCEU plans. It is reasonable to expect that the sequel will have a higher opening weekend ($67M) than the original and earn more domestically ($335M) as a result. Avatar: The Way of Water's box office shows how well a water-based sequel to a surprise hit can do with a December release and limited competition. So, the $1 billion milestone could still be how much the 2023 DC movie will make at the box office.
