“The Flash” leaves the poster with one of DC Comics’ worst box office

The film ‘The Flash’ concluded its film career on Thursday (17/8) confirming its disappointing trajectory at the box office. The final tally is even worse than expected at $268 million worldwide.

It only performed better than the coronavirus-hit DC films like ‘The Suicide Squad’ and ‘Wonder Woman 1984’, which released simultaneously on HBO Max, and ‘Birds of Prey’, which had a shorter viewing window due to the start of the pandemic . Her performance is comparable to, for example, “The Incredible Hulk,” which grossed $264 million in 2008, the lowest grossing in Marvel history.

To make matters worse, the film had a reported budget of $200 million, not including P&A, promotion, and advertising expenses. While not all additional figures are known, analysts believe ‘The Flash’ would need to gross at least $400 million globally just to pay for itself.

Second chance on VOD

Despite its failure in theaters, the film has found new life on VOD, where it has topped the charts for the last few weeks of the most rented films. This explains why Warner Bros. Discovery has changed its strategy and is now taking longer to make its biggest titles available on HBO Max (or simply Max in the US). VOD – and especially PVOD, premium VOD, which is more expensive – has become the second launch window in 2023, with the aim of recovering investments that have not worked out.

Still, it’s hard to imagine that the studio would find much comfort in that. Touted as the “best superhero movie ever made” by none other than the CEO of WBD, “The Flash” goes down in history as one of the genre’s biggest flops.

Impact on the DCU

“The Flash”‘s performance at the box office could have significant implications for the character’s future, eliminating the possibility of this release being exploited in the DCU reboot being developed by the new DC Studios.

However, before the numbers became clearer, the film’s director, Andy Muschietti, ended up being hired to shoot ‘Batman: The Brave and the Bold’, the first Batman film of the next phase of the DCU. The low performance, including a critical 64% approval on Rotten Tomatoes, could turn to regret among the heads responsible for keeping him in this universe.

Source: Terra

Rose

Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.