The Flash Will Make Less At The Domestic Box Office Than Ryan Reynolds' Green Lantern
In exactly a month, "The Flash" went from being one of the most-anticipated movies of the summer movie season to one of the biggest box office busts in recent memory. Warner Bros.' latest DC Comics adaptation has floundered ever since its very disappointing opening weekend in June. So, just how bad is it going? When all's said and done, director Andy Muschietti's take on the Scarlet Speedster will actually make less at the domestic box office than 2011's "Green Lantern," oft cited as one of the biggest superhero movie bombs of the modern era.
Per Box Office Mojo, "The Flash" has earned $263.6 million worldwide to date, including a paltry $750,000 this past weekend as the film made its way to VOD. Domestically, the DC flick has made just $106.8 million, and that's the key number here. For comparison's sake, "Green Lantern," which starred Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan, earned a mere $220 million worldwide, but $116.6 million in North America. Given that "The Flash" is already on VOD and has been out of the top 10 on the charts for two weeks, there is no chance it will make enough to eclipse $117 million.
Both movies were said to have budgets in the $200 million range, and both were based on big DC superheroes not named Batman or Superman. So it actually makes for a pretty good comparison. Ultimately, "The Flash" will make more worldwide, but there was a great deal of pre-release hype that made the disappointing returns all the more shocking. "Green Lantern" was not greeted kindly then, and it doesn't exactly have its fans now. Most importantly, in both cases, we're looking at WB suffering huge losses.
Joining a club nobody wants any part of
Directed by Martin Campbell, the man who completely reinvented James Bond with "Casino Royale" in 2006, "Green Lantern" is estimated to have lost $75 million for the studio after all was said and done. That's accounting for post-theatrical ancillary revenue. Mind you, this was when there was a slightly healthier market in terms of cable rights and physical media sales. Now? "The Flash" has a bigger hill to climb after it leaves theaters. Warner Bros. has zero chance of ever turning a profit on this one. Period.
In the aftermath of "Green Lantern," WB managed to find some bright spots as "The Dark Knight Rises" became a massive hit in 2012, taking in well over $1 billion globally, and "Man of Steel" would follow in 2013, becoming a decent hit that kicked off the DC Extended Universe. Things got messy after that, to be certain, but it was very much a low point for others to compare themselves to. "Well, it wasn't as bad as 'Green Lantern,'" one could say of any disappointing superhero blockbuster. Now "The Flash" adds itself to that unenviable club of flops, alongside 2015's "Fantastic Four" and "Catwoman."
All eyes turn to DC Studios co-heads James Gunn and Peter Safran, who are readying to reboot the DC Universe beginning with "Superman: Legacy" in 2025. Of course, we still have "Blue Beetle" and "Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom" on the way later this year as well. Those movies are unfairly tasked with shouldering the burden of disappointment that came before, while Gunn and Safran have to weather the storm and show audiences that DC will be different and worth paying attention to in 2025 and beyond. It's a rough road ahead.