The Flash takes a massive fall in its second week

After nearly four decades in development, The Flash has finally made its way to the big screen.

The Flash landed in third place – possibly fourth – this weekend with a drop of 72% from its opening weekend. It took in $15.26 million for a new domestic total of $87.64 million. The percentage drop was the second worst in history for a comic book film, coming in second only to Morbius.

For comparison, Black Adam took in $27.7 million in its second weekend, while Aquaman did $52.11 million in the same time frame. The former went on to a domestic total of $168.15 million, while the latter took in $335.06 million.

In the foreign markets, The Flash took in $26.6 million. This brings the global opening weekend total to $123.3 million.

Using the same comps as before, Black Adam took in $223.1 million from the foreign markets over the course of its run for a total of $391.26 million. Aquaman did very well in the foreign markets and took in $808.69 million for a global total of $1.143 billion.

As to the caveat about if The Flash came in third or fourth, it is within a few hundred thousand of No Hard Feelings which is currently fourth in the estimates. There is a chance the two films will swap positions when the final numbers are released on Monday morning.

The Flash is now in wide theatrical release.

40 comments

Seb

June 25, 2023

This is f*king embarrassing. And it also completely exposes the idea that this movie was well liked by audiences. Andy needs to be kept faaaaar away from Batman (frankly, I don't want that movie to be made in the first place, considering we have such a good thing going on with The Batman universe & having a second cinematic version happening at the same time is just insulting & stupid). Guy doesn't understand the character (heck, treats him as a joke as far as I can tell) & is HORRIBLE wit special effects. It 2 & Flash just had atrocious CGI & the plot is a huge mess.

If Gunn thinks ppl like that will build a great DCEU & that Andy made the greatest CBM of all time, we are in for a nightmare. But all that being said, I'd still bet money that none/most of these movies will ever hit production. WB is on the brink of bankrupcy & they can't afford another loss/bomb, which movies "The Authority" & YES, even Superman Legacy are guaranteed to be.

WB cannot expect to fail for over a decade & think ppl will give them another chance. They only have themselves to blame.

Mingthemerviless
June 27, 2023
I wanted to see Affleck and Keaton as Batman. Affleck is my favorite movie Batman. I was not expecting the citizen kane of comic book movies just some on screen Batman fun. But I couldn't bring myself to pay to see a movie starring that creep Miller. Just couldn't do it.
I'm not expecting anything good from. Brave and the Bold with Gunn pretending to be Feige (the MCU is also a mess) given Gunns sole DC output and upcoming projects sounding underwhelming. Reeves Batman seems to ve the only bright spot.

Kerk Lastnameless

June 25, 2023

I wanna see Zazlav fired. So far he has no accomplishments to boast of. In fact, this makes shelving of Batgirl even more embarrassing. WB is running out of cash. If things go on this way, they'll rent out their entire library to Netflix, and the stock will fall below $5 in no time, which means they'll have to do reverse-split, beg rich supporters for more and so on.

DC cinematic universe will never happen under WB.

Jobs248

June 25, 2023

Lol

RNTody

June 25, 2023

DC needs two things to succeed and it's goddamn obvious to anyone outside of Hollywood who is remotely a fan.

1. Drop this shared universe done-to-death garbage. Continue the experimental and/or elseworlds films and series which are their biggest successes critically and commercially i.e Joker, The Batman and Peacemaker. Love it or hate it, the Arrowverse had plenty of good memories, comic love and enjoyment.

2. Make good solo, standalone films and FORGET about continuity and after credits scenes and all that overdone, formulaic garbage. Once you achieve good solo films that aren't boring origin movies, and you get some momentum and success going, THEN you can think about Justice League.

This Marvel Phase 4 and 5 trash of announcing 20 movies at a time only brings exhaustion. No one is going to care if Darkseid or some other big bad is revealed at the end of Superman Legacy. All people want are good movies. Nothing else.

Anyone with artistic integrity gives 150% to their current project without thought for what comes after.

Seb
June 25, 2023
1. F*K YEEEEES.
2. Also, F*K YEEEES.
1. RNTody
  June 25, 2023
  People give you shit on this site for being negative or cynical, but I'm inclined to agree with you and I'm someone who had a good time at The Flash movie. The problem is, it wasn't a great movie. I was amused, I had fun, I appreciated some of the fan service and I'm always going to love seeing Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck, who is my favourite on-screen Batman because it's the closest we got to comic book Batman (minus the goddamn killing...) However, the moment we enter the quality conversation the movie falls apart, and THAT's why it's going to fail at the box office.
  Yeah sure, you built a movie celebrating the greatest hits of a universe that never took off, you led with an actor who despite his public profile couldn't be cut or recast I guess because he's a "they" and you built this movie as the grand finale to a dead universe, so it's sort of inconsequential. But despite all of those factors, it would have succeeded if it was a quality movie. As do many controversial projects that are actually good.
  DC at the moment exists in some paradox where their standalone projects are phenomenal successes and their giant should-be-printing-money all-star universe movies barely elicit a semi. For three entire hours I was sucked into The Batman praying I didn't get a pee from the giant slush puppy I guzzled. Joker, despite being unconventional, had me and my wife floored by the sheer immensity of Jaoquin's performance, the music, cinematography and take on the character with a focus on mental illness. Those were movies made by a director with a vision, and with actors who gave a damn, without being bogged down by fan service and trashy hints at future films. If someone gives a damn, chances are you will too because it pours through the material.
  The Flash...the best I can say is that I had fun. But "fun" is the same reason the MCU is dying (political pandering aside). No one cares about quality, or making art, or making something that's going to affect people. Shit, it's not just DC. I physically couldn't watch Ant-Man Quantomania, I skipped through it, and it got worse and worse.
  I wish the people who made these movies actually cared about the characters they're spending millions on.
  At this point I wish Insomniac Games or the original Rocksteady Games could write the script for these movies because they killed it with the Spider-Man and Arkham Games.
  1. Seb
    June 25, 2023
    Thing is I don't think of myself as a "cynical" guy for the most part & it's definitely not how anyone who actually knows me would ever describe me... but goddamn, has it been hard to be a DC fan for the last ten years. Yeah, we've gotten some big wins like The Batman, and some solid, enjoyable movies like Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Shazam... but even those (last 3) movies don't feel like they lived up to the potential of DC.
    And don't even get me started on the whole Flash fiasco... It's just laughable to me how they marketed this movie (unironically & shamelessly) as one of the GOAT CBMs. That's just insane... and yeah Ezra being "non-binary" or whatever tf any of that means is probably the only thing that saved him from being "cancelled" more than he truly was. Everyone knows it, they just won't say it.
    WB should honestly just focus on the only thing they have going for them right now, which is as you and I have said: solo movies that aren't connected to the "larger DCEU" & have a much more director focused vision. The Batman, Joker, etc. I think Swamp Thing could be another one of those movies, if they really dile up the horror aspect & don't focus too much on making a "cool action superhero movie".
    They should use characters that aren't too "spectacle" focused. You could say The Batman was a big spectacle & it was in a sense, but mostly that movie was incredibly personal & limited in scale. No "saving the world/universe/multiverse" nonsense that we all know aren't REAL stakes. It's not that those "big" movies are inherently bad, but they're played out & WB have proved time & time again they don't have what it takes.
    They really need to step away from this kiddy "superhero" feeling, which at this point just feels childish. When I see Rob's Batman fighting goons, I believe it. I buy into the world. I take it seriously. When I see Wonder Woman, Flash & Batman having an awkward conversation on a bridge in the Flash movie, it looks childish & stupid. Like a toy commercial. Frankly, it just looks embarrassing & there's no way WB/Gunn/Andy can expect me as an audience member to take that seriously.
    Doesn't mean every DC movie should be dark & gritty, but it should be grounded & most of all, the characters should feel like REAL HUMAN BEINGS (something the MCU nailed with Phase 1-3). In other words, these movies should be made by ppl who take the source material SERIOUSLY & actually care about the characters. Something which so very clearly is not the case now.
    1. Mike
      June 30, 2023
      Because Batman, WW, Flash, Green Lantern, Superman, etc have never interacted with any humor in the comics?? People need to lighten up and realize this movie wasn't supposed to be some Nolan masterpiece or Scorcese flick. I felt it had a good amount of "this is shit I've seen in comics before" type stuff. Lots of fan service, lots of humor to make it a fun summer movie. It's flawed, and yet people lose their minds about it but will watch Vin Diesel drive cars to Mars in Fast and Furious for the 100th time and praise it. DC fans have become the atypical millenials. They hate it when it's fun, hate it when it's dark, hate it when the stories are longer and have more threads, hate it when it has hardly any plot. There's no pleasing you. Half of the reason this movie is tanking is because half the fan base is boycotting it because they hate James Gunn and are Snyder cultists. Marvel is financially successful mostly due to their fans being open to whatever. They'll criticize it but they won't actively boycott something before it's even in theaters. That's the millennial way, zero logic.

Sara

June 25, 2023

Not only does the Flanagan project sound like a better risk, but personally, I would gladly trade away Damian for Clayface. Can't stand the boy...

ItzSilentStorm

June 25, 2023

I just can't believe they weren't expecting all of these films to be potential duds this year. I mean they had to have known when they let Gunn announce the reboot before any of them even came out. It's tuff to watch, but I really think we just need to get through this year and let things calm for a bit. Truthfully I wish there could be nothing DC related coming out next year so as to have a full palate cleanser before the reboot. Gunn and Safran also should probably read the room and realize that everyone wants a hard reboot with zero connections to the previous continuity. If he wants to continue his SS story, make it an elseworld. That simple imo.

I almost wish they could also just dump BB and Aquaman 2 on Max to lessen the blow in terms of public perception. Maybe BB ends up being decent, but all the rumors are suggesting Aquaman 2 is a stinker, and so far WB has given us no reason to be excited. It comes out at the end of this year and we haven't seen a single trailer.

Seb
June 25, 2023
I honestly question this whole "Gunn's reboot killed the interest" narrative... not that it hasn't been a factor, but outside of hardcore nerd circles (online), I don't know anyone who's actually aware of the reboot. Most ppl don't give a crap who directs what, or what movies are "announced". Online rhetoric does not reflect the real world.
Every time I have explained what WB are planning, particularly with the reboot & having two cinematic Batman series at the same time, people react extremely negatively & ask me what the point of it all is. What that proves is not only that ppl don't care for the reboot, but more importantly, that they aren't aware of it.
Same thing with Ezra's antics... of course it was a factor but most ppl have no clue who this guy is or what he's done.
I think the biggest reason this movie bombed is genuine lack of interest. Ppl don't really care about the Flash & they sure as sh!t don't care about DC. Even The Batman clearly was fighting against bad will from general audiences... if DC was at the top of their game like the MCU was for a decade, The Batman would have easily grossed a billion without trying.
As for BB & AM2, those are bombs in the making... If AM2 turns out to be a fun crowd pleaser like the first movie, I give it a shot to at least break even, but all I'm hearing about the movie is that it's a huge mess & a terrible movie. Once word comes out about that, ppl won't turn up. So that's another bomb. Again, ppl have completely abandoned DC movies & the hype for BB is non-existent. Doesn't help that the movie looks like absolute garbage imo (I'll gadly admit though that I never really cared about the character).
1. Kara
  June 26, 2023
  I don’t know about that. Plenty of women in my office know all about Ezra Miller’s BS and can’t stand the dude. They follow the Hollywood antics of celebrities and believe it or not, it does inform their viewing habits.
  1. devilman013
    June 26, 2023
    If it was one crime, maybe most people wouldn't have been aware of it. But he's been in the news constantly, and each time for something worse, so at some point, most people would have heard his name come up in a negative way.
  2. Seb
    June 26, 2023
    I get what you're saying & I believe you but I don't think that reflects "most people". Certainly not ppl above the age of 35 (aka, parents who take their kids to watch these movies).

Drake Grayson

June 25, 2023

The amount of weight on Superman Legacy may be too much for Gunn to surmount. It may already be destined to lose money, but it’s gotta hit with the general audience and critics way more than the old DCEU. I guess I’m in the minority because I enjoyed most of the DCEU films, and paid for every single one, but not many feel that way clearly. I thought Flash was highly entertaining and broad enough with the humor and action to hit home to the GA. Clearly no one cares. Keaton returning in his iconic role, Affleck’s last appearance, Back to the Future vibes, funny gags…. none of it mattered. Everyone I spoke about it with said they either liked it, or thought it was a fun watch. But admittedly, that’s only about 30 people. I hope Gunn can pull off the miracle, but the audience doesn’t really seem there anymore. It’s sad. Hard to be optimistic after all these L’s the DC brand keeps taking.

mrsomebody
June 26, 2023
Well said. The problem is the DC brand is incredibly, incredibly tarnished. Bad movie after bad movie. Drama behind almost every movie with Ray Fisher, Amber Heard, Joss Whedon, Ezra Miller; Dwayne Johnson's ego; AWFUL creative choices (from casting to story)...
I have never seen so much failure from a big company/studio.
1. Drake Grayson
  June 26, 2023
  I guess the hopeless optimist in me or the child of DC, growing up revering these iconic characters, makes me believe it will work itself out one day and eventually everyone will see the greatness of DC on the big screen. Each loss, and behind the scene issues like you mentioned, make me less and less confident though. I’m rooting hard for Gunn to make it work, I’m just not sure if victory is attainable anymore.
2. devilman013
  June 26, 2023
  And don't forget the drama with Snyder.

Kara

June 26, 2023

And James Gunn said this was one of the best comic book movies ever!
WB is doomed. Bankruptcy is surely imminent.
Fire Andy, cancel Brave and the bold, drop the shared universe. Double down on standalone director-Led content.

Papa Grande ( formerly deevo)
June 26, 2023
I think Gunn lost a lot of face in trying to pump this movie. This reminds me of the studio double-talk during many years of mismanagement ( i..e regarding Cavill's Superman over years of negligence, Affleck's participation despite him clearly wanting out, thier intentions with Justice League after Snyder's exit, etc.).
I doubt they will stop the shared universe idea, but if they continue they may actually have to clamp down on allowing director's laissez-faire carte blanche and start to run a tighter ship that oversaw directors like Marvel. When they were amazing they never ever let a director/arteest jut do whatever they wanted regardless of fans and source material ( remember Birds of Prey...and that was PRE- pandemic) - if you wanted to stroke your vision and possibly deviate from what Fiege wanted you were shown the door or parted ways like Edgar Wright on Ant-Man.
This however requires a strong understanding of the books and what will work with both hardhcore fans and normies.
But yeah, Muschietti needs to go. Confidence is at a low and they have to focus on that. And never ask Cristina Hodson to write your DC movies again. They should just release Aquaman and BB on Max and focus on getting people excited for what they have now ( i.e. Superman castig and details)

Bruce Vader

June 26, 2023

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

TibzTheSecondComing

June 26, 2023

Most of the general audiences don’t know about the reboot.
Most of the general audiences don’t even know about Ezra Miller and his alleged actions.

The movie failed for two very simple reasons:

1. The movie wasn’t great. Blame the CGI, blame the writing, blame the acting, blame the directing or blame whatever you want. A B cinemas or Eid just not good enough for this type of movie.

2. DC has become so disconnected, that audiences don’t see the point in watching a film, unless it is outright fantastic, in a universe that is so badly organised and where there is no incentive for further viewing.

Papa Grande ( formerly deevo)
June 26, 2023
Fair questions... We are geeks who have thier ears to the ground. Normies? They may not have that understanding about the reboots etc.

Papa Grande ( formerly deevo)

June 26, 2023

I can't believe they put Muschietti on Brave and Bold before this mess was tested in theatres. Batman films are very important. You don't get someone who flopped this spectacularly attached to Batman movies. How do you even begin to try to market this?

mrsomebody

June 26, 2023

WTF are some people talking about Muschietti being at fault for this and nor deserving Brave and the Bold? He had to make a movie with whatever scraps of the DCEU he got.

devilman013
June 26, 2023
Because The Flash wasn't that great, and certainly doesn't inspire confidence that he can pull off a Batman movie.
1. mrsomebody
  June 26, 2023
  Yeah, but again, I think it wasn't great because he couldn't do and use much. He had character constraints from the studio, and he had to do a Flashpoint adaptation... He didn't have much room or good elements to work with and he managed to make a "decent" movie. One of the best in the DCEU according to some. I dunno where it stands next to WW or MoS which are the "best" imo
  1. Seb
    June 26, 2023
    He didn't "have to do" Flashpoint. That was his choice/of the writers. WB didn't mandate a Flashpoint adaptation.
    Besides, even if WB did want to go that direction, the movie was a piss poor adaptation anyway. It's but a shadow of its comic book counterpart.
  2. devilman013
    June 26, 2023
    Well, I for one wouldn't hand a Batman project to someone simply because of a "decent" movie.
Seb
June 26, 2023
I make no apologies for saying the guy who directed this embarrassment should be kept as far away as possible from Batman.
https://imgur.com/qLZXdGO
Also, beyond the ending/"reboot" stuff, Andy basically got full control over the movie.
1. Knowlson
  June 26, 2023
  First time I saw this I thought it was part of some gag reel blu-ray extra or something.
  1. Seb
    June 26, 2023
    It is truly THAT horrible... like, unbelievably bad.
    1. DudeofSteel1Million
      June 27, 2023
      It made Wonder Woman looks like a jerk. She deliberately left the lasso tied to his wrist instead of taking it off. She knew full well that Bruce could have divulged his secret identity and blown his cover in front of normal people and yet she did it anyways cause "Jokes - for funny fun."
      But hey, better than nearly killing and ruining an innocent man's life and letting her lover possess his body so that she could bump uglies with it like the life in there didn't matter, right?
    2. Seb
      June 27, 2023
      It's also not how the Lasso works in the comics btw, something Twitter clearly doesn't understand (but again, freaking TWITTER, need I say more?)
      What you said is absolutely right but for me it's the fact that Andy & the writer made Batman's mission out to be a selfish crusade & that Batman knowingly let's ppl suffer when he could help them in "better ways".
      The same writer who SURPRISE also wrote Birds of Prey. Imagine my shock that the writer behind one of the pettiest & most obviously "anti-male" films wrote Batman to be a broken, selfish joke. Now granted, Birds of Prey wasn't outright "hostile" towards men or anything, as I've seen some circles online suggest, but what I mean by "anti-male" is that without exception, every single male character was written to be bad or toxic, and the director publicly said that the movie is about women's revenge against men & their "empowerement" or whatever. So it's obvious someone who thinks along those lines is not going to respect a character like Batman & is going to write him in a disrespectful way. And of course Flash is a virgin too, so funny! They'd never DARE do that to any female character and EVERYONE knows it. I mean, just imagine that Diana was tied up & the Lasso forced her to say she knows what s€x is but has never experienced it. I repeat, it's not that any of this "offends" me in and of itself, more so than I think it exposes the hypocrisy & incompetency of the ppl BTS. Just making this disclaimer before anyone accuses me of being some "fragile incel" bc that's not what that's about.
      To be fair, she also wrote Bumblebee which I thought was a very good movie with lovable characters, but maybe that's bc it had a female lead therefore she actually tried? Who knows.
      Diana being a rapist in WW84 is also one of those things that would have never been dismissed if the roles were reversed.
2. mrsomebody
  June 26, 2023
  I have to disclose I haven't seen the movie and playing devil's advocate. But my point is we know he had to bake a cake with shitty ingredients.
  1. Seb
    June 26, 2023
    Sorry for the spoiler then I guess... but that scene alone proves to me Andy doesn't even respect Batman. He basically turned him into a big joke & thinks Batman is a selfish maniac who doesn't care about ppl & could solve all of Gotham's problems if only he "donated his money". That's not just a misunderstanding of the character, it's outright contempt for him.
    I do not want this dude anywhere near Batman.
    1. jrvc
      June 27, 2023
      for me it was Josstice League over again regarding Batman... well and many other scenes too
    2. Seb
      June 27, 2023
      yeah it really had that cringe, childish feel to it.

Kryptonian

June 29, 2023

Saw the movie. I was literally the only person in the theater.
The good:
Batman fight scenes
Micheal Keaton's Batsuit
The Flash's suit
Supergirl's suit

The Bad:
Ben Affleck's batsuit was HORRIBLE
The story
Nude/butt scene - I don't want to see that, and I won't take my kids to see that.
Cussing (The Dark Knight Trilogy had very minimal cussing) - I don't want to hear it, and I won't take my kids to hear it.
The childish underwear humor at "Barry 2's" apartment
Killing of Micheal Keaton's Batman
Bruce Wayne letting Wayne Manor, his parents home, be run down, and dressing like a hippie. The man was still a billionaire. He would up keep his home and keep his business operations.

Overall, I disliked this movie!! And, I was really looking forward to it and hoping it would be great. In a way it reminded me of the failure of the Green Lantern.

This is not about Comic Book Movie Fatigue at all. It is about terrible writing being made into a terrible movie. I love myself great comic book movies.

Batman News Archive

The Flash takes a massive fall in its second week

40 comments

Browse By Topic

Browse By Year

Browse By Author