Box Office: ‘Blue Beetle’ Buzzes to $3.3M in Previews, ‘Strays’ Follows With $1.1M

The family-friendly Blue Beetle has started off its box-office run with $3.3 million in Thursday evening previews.

Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto, the DC and Warner Bros. event pic is Hollywood’s first live-action superhero film built around a Latino protagonist and hopes to be a breakthrough movie for Latino audiences and for Latino representation in front of and behind the camera. And, according to The Hollywood Reporter’s review, it stands to put Cobra Kai recruit Xolo Maridueña “on the map as a young actor with the right spark to carry a new offshoot of the DC Extended Universe.”

Blue Beetle hopes to open in the $30 million range domestically and could have the bragging rights to toppling Barbie from the top spot after four weekends (talk about a superhero feat).

Adriana Barraza, Damían Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén and Becky G also star.

Soto’s movie was originally slotted for Warner Bros. Discovery streaming service HBO Max (now known simply as “Max”), but Warner Bros. changed course in late 2021.

Blue Beetle’s release has been hampered by the SAG-AFTRA strike, which means Soto’s cast can’t participate in the publicity tour. Various Latino organizations, however, are lending a hand across the country via special screenings and other events.

The final studio superhero pic of the summer season goes up against Strays, Universal’s raunchy canine comedy.

Strays, which hopes to yap its way to an opening in the mid-teens, earned $1.1 million in previews, including $275,000 from early-access screenings.

The star-packed voice cast includes Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park and Josh Gad. Similar to Blue Beetle, the pic hasn’t been able to include the voice cast in publicity plans.