The Flash, the DC comic book starring Ezra Miller, has been confirmed as one of the worst flops in superhero movie history. Introduced at Naples ComiCon on May 2, 2023 and released in theaters in Italy on June 15, 2023 and in theaters in the United States on June 16, the film grossed less than $270 million worldwide, missing estimated minimum production and promotion costs. 300 million dollars. The Warner Bros. movie, which also starred Michael Keaton as Batman and Sasha Kalle as Supergirl, failed to pull in audiences and fared worse than Green Lantern, the Ryan Reynolds movie that is considered one of the comic book’s biggest flops.
The Flash Officially Failed: Disastrous Box Office
The Flash tells the story of Barry Allen, a young man who gains super-speed powers after being struck by lightning. Barry decides to use his powers to travel through time and save his mother Nora, who was killed by a mysterious assassin when he was a child. But his actions change the multiverse and lead him to meet a younger version of himself who is about to become the Flash. Together, they must find a way to bring order to time and space, with the help of Supergirl and Batman’s old friend, played here by Michael Keaton, who returns thirty years later as the Dark Knight.
The Flash had a very disappointing box office debut, grossing just $3.3 million from public previews on Thursday, August 17, down from Shazam 2: Fury of the Gods’ $3.4 million and $9.7 million. outbreaks. The two films then opened the weekend with $30.1 million and $55 million respectively. The Flash, on the other hand, ended his opening weekend with just $25 million. According to Box Office Mojo updated on August 17, 2023, after more than two months of release, the film has grossed approximately $268 million worldwide. Of these, only 108 million are from the US and 160 from the rest of the world.
The Flash thus proved to be a global flop in theaters, lower than other DC comic books such as Green Lantern (220 million), Shazam (366 million) and Aquaman (1 billion). Movie Warner Bros. is also one of the least profitable comics in history, given that it had an estimated $200 million upfront marketing budget and at least $100 million in advertising spending. The film was unable to cover the overall costs and caused a loss for the studio.
The Flash was touted as one of DC’s most ambitious projects, with the ability to explore the multiverse and bring together iconic characters like Batman and Supergirl. But the public did not react positively and preferred other films scheduled for this summer, such as “Barbie” with Margot Robbie or “Blue Beetle”, a new DC movie comic dedicated to Latin superhero Jaime Reyes. Now Warner Bros. hopes to rectify the situation with this film, which premiered on August 15, 2023 and received positive reviews from the press and the public.