Blue Beetle (film)

Blue Beetle
Blue Beetle
	Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ángel Manuel Soto
Written by	Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer
Based on	Characters from DC
Produced by	John Rickard; Zev Foreman;
Starring	Xolo Maridueña; Adriana Barraza; Damián Alcázar; Raoul Max Trujillo; Susan Sarandon; George Lopez;
Cinematography	Pawel Pogorzelski
Edited by	Craig Alpert
Music by	Bobby Krlic
Production; companies	DC Films; The Safran Company;
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	August 14, 2023 (El Paso, Texas); August 18, 2023 (United States);
Running time	127 minutes
Country	United States
Languages	English; Spanish;
Budget	$104–125 million
Box office	$130.8 million

Blue Beetle is a 2023 American superhero film based on the DC Comics character Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle. Directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, it is the 14th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). Xolo Maridueña stars as Reyes, a recent college graduate who is bestowed with an armor that grants him superpowers after being accidentally chosen by an ancient alien relic known as the Scarab. Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez also star in the film.

Development of a film featuring Reyes began by the end of November 2018 with Dunnet-Alcocer attached as screenwriter. 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, and filming lasted from late May to mid-July at Wilder Studios in Decatur, Georgia, as well as in El Paso, Texas, and Puerto Rico. It is the first live-action superhero film with a Latino lead.

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 Warner Bros.' service 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 franchise's imminent reboot with the DC Universe (DCU), and Hurricane Hilary. An animated follow-up series is in development.

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