How China Helped Aquaman Rise Above Other DCEU Movies
2018's "Aquaman," starring Jason Momoa as the titular champion of the deep, is one of the more well-regarded films in what is known as the DC Extended Universe. When you look at worldwide box office figures like those provided by Box Office Mojo, you'll also see that it's the highest-grossing of the bunch as well. "Aquaman" is the only DCEU movie to cross the $1 billion mark in global box office receipts, with a total worldwide gross of more than $1.1 billion. And as it turns out, audiences in China had a major role in helping "Aquaman" to reach that watershed.
If you look at the Box Office Mojo chart, you'll notice that "Aquaman" has the largest portion of its worldwide gross coming from markets outside North America, at a whopping 70.8%. "Aquaman" grossed a total of $813.4 million internationally, and $291.8 million of that came from theaters across China. As it turns out, that happens to make "Aquaman" the highest-grossing DC Comics movie ever released there.
The lavish undersea visuals of Aquaman might have helped raise its stature in international markets
It's really anyone's guess why "Aquaman" performed so well in China compared to other DC Extended Universe films, but it should be noted that the film is also the second highest-grossing DCEU installment in North America as well, sitting behind only "Wonder Woman" and its $412 million North American box office gross.
Still, there is clearly something about "Aquaman" that made it resonate in China, as well as other countries where English is not the primary spoken language. A post by Dirk Hopper on Medium speculated that this could be due to what he calls "The 'Avatar' Effect," allowing the movie and its lavish visuals to join other global blockbusters like "The Great Wall" and "Pacific Rim." But that doesn't account for the fact that the DCEU isn't exactly lacking in visual spectacle, even if "Aquaman" does provide a much sunnier and more colorful visual flavor than something like "Wonder Woman" or "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice."
Whatever the reason, China is undeniably a major part of the box-office success of "Aquaman." And time will tell whether the upcoming "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" will continue the franchise's legacy of success in China.