IT was a good news/bad news weekend for “Blue Beetle,” the latest superhero film to hit North American theatres and the first built around a live-action Latino protagonist.

The DC Studios/Warner Bros. production topped the charts for the Friday-through-Sunday period and even dethroned “Barbie,” that reigning queen of pinkness, industry watcher Exhibitor Relations said yesterday.

But its estimated take of US$25.4 (RM118) million was “the lowest DC superhero debut of this era” other than 2021’s money-losing “Wonder Woman 1984.” 

“Beetle” stars 22-year-old American actor Xolo Mariduena as a new college graduate whose body is taken over by the mysterious Scarab, which gives him superhuman powers.

Analyst David A. Gross said that while ticket sales for “Beetle” were only a third the average for new superhero flicks, reviews have been good and overseas prospects are strong.

“Barbie,” in its fifth week out, scored US$21.5 million in ticket sales, “a huge result at this point in its theatrical run,” according to Variety. The Warner Bros. fantasy-comedy has now taken in an eye-popping US$1.27 billion globally.

In third, also in its fifth week out, was Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” at US$10.6 million. The historical drama about the origins of the first atomic bomb has passed the US$700 million mark globally.

Fourth place went to Paramount’s animated “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” at US$8.4 million. Its huge voice cast includes Maya Rudolph, Ayo Edebiri, John Cena, Jackie Chan, Ice Cube and Paul Rudd.

And in fifth was Universal’s new talking-dog comedy “Strays,” at US$8.3 million, a concerning start for a movie made on a US$46 million budget. 

Rounding out the top 10 were:

“Meg 2: The Trench” (US$6.7 million)

“Talk to Me” (US$3.2 million)

“Haunted Mansion” (US$3 million)

“Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One” (US$2.7 million)

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” (US$2.5 million) – AFP, August 21, 2023.