Blue Beetle director Angel Manuel Soto appears to have resorted to desperation in order to convince potential moviegoers to see the movie in theaters.
Speaking with Heroic Hollywood, Soto tried to encourage viewers to go see the film multiple times by promising them they will discover hidden Easter eggs.
He said, “There are a lot of Easter Eggs. I always say, if you watch it a second time, or even three times, you’re gonna find different Easter Eggs every single time, because they’re very minimal.”
Specifically, he claimed a green beam seen in the title sequence is Green Lantern, “Do you notice the green beam in the title sequence? That’s the Green Lantern. See? You’ll have to see it again!”
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Heroic Hollywood also reports that Soto also attempted to tease the possibility that the film’s story might continue by telling them, “Get ready for Black Beetle.”
Soto previously attempted this tactic to no avail in the leadup to the film’s release when he claimed he had an entire trilogy planned. He told Total Film, “Our first movie, the way we wanted to do it, was always with the mentality that we wanted to do two more, at least. And taking the traditional three-act structure of a story, we wanted our first movie to practically be the first act of a saga.”
He would elaborate on the plans for the second film with The Playlist informing the outlet, “Blue Beetle [the first film] is Jamie’s story. We wanted to focus on him and his family. By the end of the movie, there will be questions about the scarab, and I hope to answer them. For the next film, I hope to tell the whole story of what happened to the scarab, where he comes from, why he was sent, and hopefully in the end, who they have to defeat.”
As for the idea that there were Easter Eggs, Soto previously confirmed the movie featured references to Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel.
Speaking with Nestor Cine, he said, “In Blue Beetle there are some references to Man of Steel that we made out of honor and respect for the work and art of Zack Snyder.”
None of this drove people to the theaters as Blue Beetle became the second worst opening for a DC film ever. The film only grossed $25 million at domestic box office and another $18.6 million internationally for a global gross of $43.6 million.
The only DC film that Blue Beetle best in its opening weekend was Wonder Woman 1984 which released on HBO Max the same day it arrived in theaters. The film grossed $16.7 million in its opening weekend back in December 2020 when the country was still coming out of the government-induced fears of Covid-19 that led to widespread lockdowns and shuttering of theaters.
RELATED: Warner Bros. Blames Hurricane Hilary For ‘Blue Beetle’s’ Poor Box Office Performance
While none of Soto’s ploys worked to drive people to theaters, Warner Bros. did place the blame on Hurricane Hilary for keeping people from seeing it in California.
As reported by Exhibitor Relations. Warner Bros. informed them, “The storm’s impact is anticipated to be significant, particularly in Southern California where the film is over-indexing.”
What do you make of Soto trying to claim a green beam in the film’s title sequence is a Green Lantern Easter egg?