‘The Flash’ Bombs: Why Did the Superhero Adventure Fail to Set a Good Pace at the Box Office?
Warner Bros. Discovery was hoping for at least a minor hit, but the movie didn’t deliver. And Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ also stumbled on release.
(L to R) Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash, Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash and Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El / Supergirl in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure 'The Flash,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
For a moment there, it looked like ‘The Flash’, a remnant of the “Snyderverse” set of DC movies that Warner Bros. (now Warner Bros. Discovery) had pinned its hopes on, would speed to victory.
The signs were good, despite a long, long development process that had seen directors including John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein (who moved on to make ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves') come and go.
But with a positive reaction out of April’s CinemaCon event (where even journalists’ social media had been mostly glowing) and ringing endorsements from an eclectic group that included Stephen King, incoming DC Studios boss James Gunn, and superstar/theatrical experience cheerleader Tom Cruise), hopes were higher that final director Andy Muschietti had pulled something off that might be embraced by audiences.
And yet… ‘The Flash’ opened to a dismal $55 million over the June 16th-18th weekend, on par with past DC bomb ‘Watchmen’ ($55.2 million) and not far ahead of infamous stumble ‘Green Lantern’ ($53.5 million), not adjusted for inflation.
What happened with ‘The Flash’?
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen / The Flash in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure 'The Flash,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
In defense of the movie (which we reviewed positively), it was facing an uphill battle. It was a lesser-known character who, despite some comic book recognition a long-running, popular TV series and appearances in the different cuts of the ‘Justice League’ movie, wasn’t a proven draw on its own yet.
Star Ezra Miller, who had played the role with charm and humor against some of the more serious superheroes, didn’t help, racking up a string of controversial personal crises we won’t reheat here, but had been trying to resuscitate their personal reputation with apologies and seeking mental health treatment. They were also mostly kept away from promotion for the film.
Another issue was the movie’s delayed release, which kept it shifting around the schedules.
And finally, the worrying fear of superhero fatigue, which has impacted both DC and Marvel movies of late.
Audiences really do seem to be tiring of watching costumed heroes running/flying around, sprawling parallel dimension stories with endless heroes popping out of portals and big CGI-laden finales.
Even the star name endorsements didn’t move the PR needle.
(L to R) Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash, Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl and Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure 'The Flash,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC
One veteran studio executive had this to say to The Hollywood Reporter on that:
“It is unfathomable to me why Zas [WBD CEO David Zaslav] and James Gunn promise how wonderful any picture or new plan will be months into the future. The public doesn’t care and isn’t aware of their prognostications. Let the product talk.”
Word of mouth wasn’t great even when it did open –– audiences handed out a B Cinemascore, and reviews were more mixed closer to its arrival.
Said Comscore’s Paul Dergarabedian to the Reporter about the movie:
“‘The Flash’ unfortunately had a rough road to the multiplex and given the complexities and challenges of the marketing and positioning of the film in the marketplace, the number one debut is actually a solid result for the latest from DC Comics in such a crowded and competitive summer season.”
Related Article: Movie Review: 'The Flash'
Elemental issues
Pixar's 'Elemental.' © 2022 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
Yet ‘The Flash’ wasn’t the only movie facing problems on its release. Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ also didn’t manage to make much of a dent at the box office.
The latest movie from the animation powerhouse, long considered a champion at the box office, delighting audiences and growing a huge fanbase with its work, had been going through its own relative rough patch.
Corporate parent Disney had not exactly safeguarded the studio’s films –– during the pandemic, it was understandable why movies such a ‘Soul’ and ‘Luca’ might have been pushed to streaming service Disney+, but once theaters started to open up again and audiences seemed happier returning to the movies, it was less defensible for the likes of ‘Turning Red’ to debut primarily on small screens.
So as ‘Elemental’ –– set in a world of living elements and featuring a love story between the fiery Ember (Leah Lewis) and watery Wade (Mamoudou Athie) –– debuted over the same weekend as ‘The Flash’ with the second-lowest three-day opening (for a wide release) in studio history at an estimated $29.5 million.
The only Pixar film to ever make less than ‘Elemental ‘over a three-day opening was the original ‘Toy Story’, which made $29.1 million over its first three-day weekend. And there’s really no comparing the two, since ‘Toy Story’ opened in 1995, when cinema tickets were much less expensive, debuted on 1,500 fewer screens than ‘Elemental’.
It also follows the poor performance of last year’s ‘Lightyear’, the movie (with its loose ‘Toy Story’ connections) that was supposed to have brought Pixar soaring back to theatrical. Instead, it crashed and burned, and several of the people who worked on the movie lost their jobs in the latest round of Disney layoffs.
Original thinking
Disney and Pixar’s 'Elemental' directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream, releases on June 16, 2023. © 2023 Disney/Pixar. All Rights Reserved.
‘Elemental’, of course, had no such connections to help sell it, but its originality was also seen as its own positive: in a world of sequels, reboots and franchises, it could help boost the cause of films not based on IP. Unfortunately, the relative lack of recognition (even from a hugely popular team such as Disney/Pixar) didn’t get people into theaters.
The new movie did at least warrant an A from Cinemascore’s polling of cinema customers, which points to potential legs, especially since there aren’t a lot of family movies headed our way at the moment.
The future
Xolo Mariduena as Jaime Reyes in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure 'Blue Beetle,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
Both Warner Bros. Discovery and Disney/Pixar are unlikely to be too affected by all of this drama, aside from when they have to justify spending to shareholders. Both companies have a robust slate on hand (albeit impacted by the ongoing WGA strike) and plenty of money to spend on upcoming releases.
Warners has ‘Blue Beetle’ and the ‘Aquaman’ sequel ‘Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom’ waiting in the wings and is keeping its fingers crossed that Gunn can rejuvenate its superhero fortunes with his new DC Studios output. Disney has many subsidiaries to generate movies and income, and Pixar has its next movie, ‘Elio’, scheduled to arrive next March (like ‘Elemental’ it is once again gambling on another original story). And we’re not likely to see the end of the comic book genre or animated movies anytime soon. But there are surely lessons to be learned from both of these flops.
(L to R) Ezra Miller as The Flash and Sasha Calle as Kara Zor-El/Supergirl in Warner Bros. Pictures’ action adventure 'The Flash,' a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures/™ & © DC Comics. Copyright: © 2023 Warner Bros. Ent. All Rights Reserved. TM & © DC.
Other Movies Similar to ‘The Flash:’
- 'Batman' (1966)
- 'Superman' (1978)
- 'Superman II' (1981)
- 'Supergirl' (1984)
- ‘Batman' (1989)
- ‘Batman Returns' (1992)
- 'Batman & Robin' (1997)
- 'Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox' (2013)
- ‘Man of Steel' (2013)
- 'The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened?' (2015)
- 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' (2016)
- 'Suicide Squad' (2016)
- 'Justice League' (2017)
- 'Teen Titans Go! To the Movies' (2018)
- 'Zack Snyder's Justice League' (2021)
- 'Peacemaker' (2022)
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Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Double Dream/a Disco Factory production of an Andy Muschietti film, 'The Flash.' It will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures and is set to open in theaters in North America on June 16, 2023 and internationally beginning 14 June 2023.
