Blue Beetle

Blue Beetle is an American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle. Produced by DC Studios and the Safran Company, and set for distribution by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is intended to be the 14th and penultimate film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU), though its title character is slated be featured in the DC Universe (DCU). The film is directed by Angel Manuel Soto from a screenplay by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, and stars Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez.
Development of a film featuring Reyes began by the end of November 2018 with Dunnet-Alcocer attached. Soto was hired to direct the film in February 2021 for the streaming service HBO Max. Maridueña was cast that August, and the film was changed to have a theatrical release in December. Further casting took place in early 2022, before filming took place from late May to mid-July in the Atlanta metropolitan area at Wilder Studios in Decatur, Georgia, as well as in El Paso, Texas and Puerto Rico.
Blue Beetle premiered in El Paso on August 14, 2023, and was released in the United States on August 18. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and became the most streamed film on Max, the successor to HBO Max, in the United States. It underperformed at the box office, grossing $131 million worldwide against a production budget of $104–125 million, which made it the lowest-grossing film in the DCEU. Its box office performance was attributed to factors such as the 2023 Hollywood labor disputes, the already announced franchise reboot, the DC Universe (DCU), and the Tropical Storm Hilary.
== Premise ==
After Jaime Reyes graduates from college and returns to his hometown Palmera City, he is chosen to become a symbiotic host to the Scarab, an ancient alien biotechnological relic that grants him a powerful exoskeleton armor, turning him into the superhero Blue Beetle.
== Cast ==
* Xolo Maridueña as Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle:
** A teenager who gains superpowers when an alien Blue Beetle scarab grafts onto him, forming a powerful reconfiguring exoskeleton around his body.
** Becky G voices Khaji-Da, an entity that imbues and controls the Scarab.
* Adriana Barraza as Nana:
** Jaime's grandmother.
* Damián Alcázar as Alberto Reyes:
** Jamie's father.
* Raoul Trujillo as Conrad Carapax
* Susan Sarandon as Victoria Kord:
** A businesswoman who is hellbent on acquiring the Scarab.
* George Lopez as Rudy:
** Jaime's uncle.
Other members of Jaime's family include Elpidia Carrillo as Rocio Reyes, Jaime's mother, and Belissa Escobedo as Milagro Reyes, Jaime's younger sister. Bruna Marquezine portrays Jenny Kord, Jaime's love interest; and Harvey Guillén portrays Dr. Sanchez, a scientist who works for Victoria Kord.
== Production ==
=== Development ===
Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Films were developing a film based on Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle by the end of November 2018, with Mexican-born Gareth Dunnet-Alcocerwriting the screenplay. Zev Foreman was executive producing the project for Warner Bros., which was set to be the first DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film starring a Latino lead. By December 2020, DC Films was planning to release several mid-budget films a year exclusively on the streaming service HBO Max, rather than in theaters, as part of new DC Films president Walter Hamada's plan for the DCEU, with Blue Beetle listed as one such project in 2021. Puerto Rican Angel Manuel Soto was hired to direct the film in February 2021. In April, Blue Beetle was included on DC's slate of films that were expected to be released in 2022 or 2023. John Rickard was producing the film for HBO Max by that August, when filming was expected to begin in early 2022. In December 2021, Warner Bros. revealed that the film would be receiving a theatrical release in August 2023 instead of being produced directly for HBO Max. In mid-April 2022, Soto and cinematographer Pawel Pogorzelski visited El Paso, Texas, to meet with local artists, muralists, musicians, and historians to understand the feel of the city. Peter Safran was reported to be a producer that October, before he became the co-chairman and co-CEO of DC Studios alongside James Gunn later that month; Rickard and Foreman were credited as the producers.
=== Writing ===
In October 2021, Soto said Dunnet-Alcocer's script featured "the Latino family at its core", while star Xolo Maridueña said in August 2022 that the family aspect of the film and character were "inherent to the comics" and felt had not been explored as much with other superhero films. Fellow star Susan Sarandon revealed the following month that the film would have several scenes spoken in Spanish, with subtitles being provided. The final writing credits were given to Dunnet-Alcocer, with off-screen additional literary credit given to Gary Dauberman.
The film is set in the fictional Palmera City, which was an original creation for the film, rather than El Paso as is featured in the comics. Soto said this was to create a world specific to Jaime Reyes on a similar level to Metropolis for Superman and Gotham City for Batman, and to help position the character as "a potential leader" in the new DC-based franchise the DC Universe (DCU). Inspiration for the film came from the video game Injustice 2 (2017) and the comic book storyline "Infinite Crisis" (2005–2006), in which Jaime Reyes debuted, along with the comics in The New 52 for the design of the suit, while the comic book miniseries Blue Beetle: Graduation Day (2022–2023) incorporated elements from the film.
=== Casting ===
Xolo Maridueña was Soto's first choice to portray Reyes, with Soto explaining that he "couldn't stop seeing [Maridueña] as the character" since he was hired to direct the film. Soto and Warner Bros. offered the role to Maridueña on August 1, 2021, he was publicly revealed to be in talks for the film the next day, and his casting was officially confirmed later that day at the premiere for the DCEU film The Suicide Squad. When learning of the role, Maridueña was most excited that Reyes is a Latino character and he could bring Latino representation to a superhero project.
In early March, Bruna Marquezine was cast as Reyes's love interest, Penny, with Belissa Escobedo playing Reyes's sister Milagros, and Harvey Guillén cast in an undisclosed role. Later that month, the rest of Reyes' family was cast: George Lopez as uncle Rudy, Adriana Barraza as Nana, Elpidia Carrillo as Rocio, and Damián Alcázar as Alberto. Soto said he wanted to create an authentic Mexican family with real accents and experiences, and also wanted the elder members of the family to be portrayed by "beloved" Mexican actors from Latin American cinema who had also crossed over to United States cinema and paved the way for members of the younger generation, such as Maridueña and Escobedo. By the end of March, Sharon Stone was in talks to play the villain Victoria Kord, an original creation for the film which was believed to be the wife of Ted Kord, the second Blue Beetle in the comics. Raoul Trujillo also joined the cast then as Carapax the Indestructible Man. In mid-April, Susan Sarandon was cast as Victoria Kord after negotiations with Stone ended. In June 2023, Becky G announced that she would be providing the voice of Khaji-Da for the film.
=== Filming ===
Principal photography began by May 25, 2022, taking place in the Atlanta metropolitan area, primarily at Wilder Studios in Decatur, Georgia, using the working title Mofongo. Pawel Pogorzelski served as the cinematographer. Filming also occurred in El Paso and Puerto Rico. Sarandon completed filming her scenes by the end of June, and Trujillo said in early July that filming was almost complete. Filming wrapped on July 18 in Puerto Rico.
=== Editing and visual effects ===
Craig Alpert serves as the film's editor, while Kelvin McIlwain serves as the visual effects supervisor, after previously working on the DCEU films Aquaman (2018) and The Suicide Squad (2021). Visual effects vendors included Digital Domain, Rise FX, and Rodeo FX.
== Marketing ==
Soto, Dunnet-Alcocer, and Maridueña promoted the film at the virtual DC FanDome event in October 2021, where they discussed their preparation for filming and revealed concept art for the film. The first trailer for the film released on April 3, 2023, revealing that the film will take place in Palmera City, a new location created for the film. It also showed a first look at the costumes of Dan Garrett and Ted Kord, the previous Blue Beetles before Jaime. The Verge's Ash Parrim thought that the trailer looked "fun" and stated: "I didn't immediately roll my eyes at yet another superhero flick, so that might be a good sign DC has something decent on its hands."
== Release ==
Blue Beetle premiered in El Paso, Texas on August 14, 2023, in partnership with the El Paso Times, and had its red carpet premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on August 15. Due to the then-ongoing 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike, the cast of the film did not attend the premiere, with Soto praising them as "heroes". Blue Beetle was theatrically released in the United States on August 18.
== Box office ==
Blue Beetle grossed $72.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $58.3 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $130.8 million. It is the lowest-grossing film in the DCEU, behind Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), and underperformed at the box office.
In the United States and Canada, Blue Beetle was released alongside Strays, and was projected to gross $25–32 million from 3,871 theaters in its opening weekend. The film earned $10 million on its first day, including $3.3 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $25 million, topping the box office and becoming the first film to dethrone Barbie, which released a month earlier; 39% of the opening weekend audience was Hispanic, while 66% was male. The film's $43 million global opening was described by Variety as "one of the softest starts in the history of the DC Cinematic Universe", which was attributed to two concurrent strikes in Hollywood, and a tepid audience awaiting the arrival of Gunn and Safran's DCU slate. Warner Bros. cited the effects of Tropical Storm Hilary as a reason behind the poor domestic opening, given it affected Los Angeles which was one of the film's top markets. The film earned $12.2 million in its second weekend (a drop of 51%), finishing third behind newcomer Gran Turismo and Barbie. National Cinema Day, a day where film theaters offer discounted tickets for audiences, was credited for boosting the film's Sunday numbers in its second weekend. It earned $7.1 million in its third weekend (and a total of $9.4 million during the four-day Labor Day weekend), remaining in third place.
== Critical reception ==
Blue Beetle received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 78% of 274 critics' aggregated reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's consensus reads: "Led by Xolo Maridueña's magnetic performance in the title role, Blue Beetle is a refreshingly family-focused superhero movie with plenty of humor and heart." On Metacritic, the film holds a weighted average score of 61 out of 100 from 52 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported that moviegoers gave the film a 82% positive score, with 65% saying they would definitely recommend it.
== Future ==
In January 2023, Gunn said the film was "disconnected" from previous DCEU entries and could connect to the DCU. By April, the Blue Beetle character was reportedly part of Gunn and Safran's plans for the DCU. In June, Gunn said Blue Beetle would be the first DCU character while noting Superman (2025) is the first DCU film, while Safran soon clarified that Maridueña's Reyes would continue in the DCU but the film itself would stand on its own. Later that month, Soto said Blue Beetle was a part of the DCU and future plans for the franchise, but was not connected to all prior DCEU films, explaining the film "lives in the world where superheroes exist. But that doesn't mean that a certain event, or certain alliance, or certain things from the past dictate where our film is going". He also expressed interest in the film being the first part of a trilogy. In September, Gunn reiterated that Maridueña would continue to play Reyes in the DCU, and clarified that any DC media released before the first projects for the DCU in 2024 would not be canon to that franchise.
== Videos ==
Blue Beetle – Official Trailer
BLUE BEETLE - OFFICIAL FINAL TRAILER
Category:2023 films
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Category:Spanish-language films
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Category:2020s films
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Category:Superhero films
Category:American superhero films
Category:2023 superhero films
Category:2023 American superhero films
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Category:2020s American superhero films
Category:DC Extended Universe films
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Category:Films starring Xolo Maridueña
Category:Films starring Becky G
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Category:Films starring George Lopez