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DC Comics, renowned for its iconic superhero universe, is set to introduce audiences to a new character with Blue Beetle (2023). The upcoming film, featuring Xolo Maridueña as the lead character of Jaime Reyes or Blue Beetle, will be released globally on August 18, 2023, by Warner Bros. Picture.
Directed by Angel Manuel Soto, the Blue Beetle movie is being said to break the infamous DC curse of 2023 following a string of flops by the media franchise. The official synopsis for the movie on IMDb says:
"An alien relic chooses Jaime Reyes to be its symbiotic host, bestowing the teenager with a suit of armor that's capable of extraordinary and unpredictable powers, forever changing his destiny as he becomes the superhero Blue Beetle."
Apart from Maridueña, the upcoming American superhero film cast includes Adriana Barraza as Nana, Raoul Max Trujillo as Conrad Carapax, Damián Alcázar as Alberto Reyes, Susan Sarandon as Victoria Kord, George Lopez as Rudy, Elpidia Carrillo as Rocio Reyes, and Belissa Escobedo as Milagro Reyes. Meanwhile, Bruna Marquezine plays Victoria Kord's niece and Jaime's love interest in the film, thereby laying down a unique angle to the story.
Blue Beetle embraces diversity and representation as it expects to produce the first hit of 2023 for DC Extended Universe
One of the most significant aspects of Blue Beetle is its celebration of diversity and representation with the cast of the first Latino actor in DCEU, Xolo Maridueña, from the fame of Cobra Kai. With Jaime Retes as the lead, the film takes a significant step towards inclusivity with its supporting cast. DC Studios has made the attempt to bring another comic to life, garnering much-required attention in the recent trailer release.
The lead character was developed by Charles Nicholas Wojtkoski in 1939. So far, the character has appeared in animated TV shows and video games. However, DCEU will bring the superhero on-screen with English and Spanish as the main languages of the film.
Black Adam, Shazam! Fury of the Gods and The Flash had received sublime reviews and struggled to break even in terms of profits. Considering the last three movies by the DC Universe in 2023 have not performed so well at the box office, there is much hope riding on Blue Beetle. Moreover, other releases like Birds of Prey, Wonder Woman 1984, and The Suicide Squad were sabotaged due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to poor performances.
With an approximate production budget of $120 million along with extra expenditures on promotion and advertising, Blue Better needs to make in the range of $250 million to $300 million to make profits. As such, the film needs to earn close to $70 million in the domestic opening weekend for the results to look promising in the following weeks considering the drop in ticket sales is less than 50%.
Blue Beetle was originally announced to be released on HBO Max in February 2021. However, it was decided to go ahead with a theatrical release by December 2022 following the cancellation of Batgirl.
