5 Reasons The Flash Bombed At The Box Office
After being hyped up for months by the folks at Warner Bros., and literally years of being stuck in development hell, "The Flash" movie finally made its way to theaters. Unfortunately, all of that hype proved to be hot air as the film tanked relative to expectations at the box office. Against a whopping $200 million budget, director Andy Muschietti's multiversal take on the Scarlet Speedster debuted to just $55 million over Father's Day weekend — well below industry estimates. The film also faltered overseas and, as of this writing, has earned a mere $135 million globally.
A best-case scenario right now would be a global finish of around $350 million, which would likely mean losses of at least $100 million for the studio, if not much more. Needless to say, that's not what any studio wants when releasing a massive-budget superhero movie. So, what went wrong, exactly? Fingers have been pointed in many directions in the aftermath of that wildly soft opening but, as is so often the case, there is no one factor at play here. In the end, a combination of factors played into this film's poor opening. Let's dig in.
The early hype was unwarranted
It is completely understandable that the people who have a financial stake in a movie would like to sound positive. Particularly a movie like "The Flash," which was originally supposed to hit theaters in early 2018 after "Justice League" came out. It's been a bumpy ride, so the fact that this one even got across the finish line is a damn miracle. In any case, it seems like Warner Bros. Discovery's top brass were being a bit too hyperbolic in hyping up this film though. WBD CEO David Zaslav said he saw it three times and called it "the best superhero I've ever seen."
Similarly, James Gunn, who is now the co-head of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran, said that "It's truly one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen. Andy Muschietti did an amazing job." While it's true that Muschietti deserves a great deal of credit for ushering this thing across the finish line through horrible circumstances — a pandemic and several regime changes at the studio among them — audiences and critics didn't agree with Zalsav or Gunn. People seem to like the movie enough, as it holds a 66% critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes to go with an 85% audience rating. Be that as it may, when something is hyped up that much, it can only serve to hurt matters when the end result is merely good and not great.
The Ezra Miller of it all
Ezra Miller first appeared as Barry Allen briefly in "Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice" before getting to flesh out the character a bit in 2017's "Justice League." When Zack Snyder first cast the actor, they were a promising up-and-comer getting the honor of bringing this beloved superhero to life for the first time in live-action on the big screen. Unfortunately, in recent years, Miller has become synonymous with a laundry list of off-screen troubles that have greatly overshadowed their on-screen work.
Last year, things got so bad that there was speculation that Warner Bros. would either end up recasting the role somehow or sending the movie direct-to-streaming. That would have been a real shame for Michael Keaton, who finally returns as Batman after more than 30 years, given that "Batgirl," a movie in which he also donned the cape and cowl, was canceled altogether. In any event, while the average person may not have paid much attention to all of the online noise made about Miller's transgressions, the actor's complete lack of presence on the press tour loomed large. It seems very much like that shadow did hurt the film in the end.
The looming DC Universe reboot
Circling back to James Gunn and Peter Safran, the DC Studios executives revealed earlier this year their plans to reboot the DC Universe beginning, in earnest, with "Superman: Legacy" in 2025. While some characters from the current universe (mostly those associated with Gunn's "Suicide Squad" franchise) will be coming along for the ride, it is pretty much going to be a full-on reboot, even though the pair have hesitated to use the term reboot. Still, hardcore DC fans know that reboot is coming. We're getting a new Batman. We're getting a new Superman. The big red reset button is about to be smashed. For hardcore fans, it may then feel a little bit like "What's the point?" when it comes to these final films from the so-called Snyderverse.
Now, many fans of cinema would argue that a good movie should stand on its own two feet divorced from any continuity it may have with other movies coming down the pipeline. Unfortunately, franchise filmmaking has become all about universe building thanks in large part to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That's how people consume it now, and it's a reality we must accept. So, again, while your average Joe may not be savvy about the forthcoming reboot, lots of folks are and that almost certainly harshed any sense of urgency to rush out to see this movie in theaters when they can just wait to see it on the Max streaming service (formerly HBO Max) in a few months.
Nine seasons of The Flash on The CW
One thing that is perhaps not being discussed nearly enough is the fact that The CW just ended a nine-season run of "The Flash" TV show, which had a sizable audience for its entire duration. Those who did watch the show were very much bonded to Grant Gustin's version of Barry Allen. Amazingly enough, Ezra Miller was cast as the DCEU's Flash in October 2014 — the very same month the show premiered! Perhaps even more incredible? "The Flash" series finale aired on May 24 of this year, mere weeks before Miller's movie finally rolled out in theaters. It took that long for the character's solo movie to come to fruition.
Call it casual audience confusion, call it what you will, but the fact that 184 episodes of a show centered on the DC superhero aired from the time that Miller was cast to the time his movie finally came out absolutely had some sort of impact on this movie's potential reach. This is, perhaps, the most underrated factor in trying to figure out what went wrong with the movie, in my humble opinion.
Superhero Fatigue is real (in a sense)
People have been yelling about possible superhero fatigue for years now. Yet, up until very recently, those folks never had any real ground to stand on. However, 2023 has shown that cracks are forming. "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" was literally one of the biggest superhero movie bombs ever, and Marvel's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" cratered after its opening weekend. With "The Flash" also underperforming, it's crystal clear that audiences will not just show up for any old superhero movie now. The days of "Batman v Superman" making $872 million against very bad reviews are officially over.
That's not to say superhero movies aren't still making money. "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" are two of the biggest movies of the year. The difference? The buzz for those films has been roundly positive. So it seems we're now at a place where "average" simply won't cut it anymore with superhero films. That's not to belittle the movies in question for viewers who enjoyed them, but when looking at the mass consensus, things have to be closer to glowing to guarantee success now. After more than 20 years of superhero movie dominance, that's understandable. The onus is now on studios like Warner Bros. to step up their game and deliver consistent quality. Best of luck to Andy Muschietti, who is now tasked with directing "Batman: The Brave and the Bold" as part of the new DC Universe.
"The Flash" is in theaters now.