Blue Beetle (film)

Blue Beetle is a 2023 American superhero film based on DC Comics featuring the character Jaime Reyes / Blue Beetle. Produced by DC Studios and the Safran Company, and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, it is the 14th film in the DC Extended Universe (DCEU). The film was directed by Ángel Manuel Soto and written by Gareth Dunnet-Alcocer, and stars Xolo Maridueña as Reyes alongside Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Raoul Max Trujillo, Susan Sarandon, and George Lopez. The film focuses on 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.

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, before filming from late May to mid-July 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. However, 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.