The worldwide box office meltdown Flash it’s so big, Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios would have lost less money if they simply hadn’t released it. The data has been revealed by the analyst Luis Ferdinandwho has explained that the film will gross a total of 280 to 310 million dollars once it leaves theaters.
“Painful, but needs to be explained: Yes Flash It ends up grossing the projected numbers, and since the studio keeps 50% of the revenue, they won’t be able to pay for the $150 million marketing investment. Warner Bros. would lose less money by simply never releasing it, or streaming it directly,” he said.
During its fourth weekend, the film has grossed just $5 million. Worldwide. It is still showing in 7,889 theaters in 79 countries, including the United States. That is how Flash has managed to get 261.6 million dollars in total. A very poor figure that further buries the production that was destined “to change superhero cinema forever.”
Flash It had a production cost of around 200 million dollars, with a marketing investment of between 65 and 100 million dollars. For Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Studios to stop losing money, it would need to raise close to $400 million.
Initial projections ensured that the film would open grossing 70 million dollars in the United States and Canada, with 155 million more worldwide. But Flash it barely managed to obtain 139 million in international markets and only 55 million in the United States and Canada. From then on, the film’s collection has plummeted, due to bad reviews from specialized critics, audiences and —to a lesser extent— the absence of the protagonist, Ezra Miller, on the promotional tour due to his repeated scandals.
In addition, —within the United States at least— the actors of the summer movies cannot promote them in the popular talk shows at night, due to the writers’ strike.
Flash it’s an absolute nightmare for Warner and DC
Flash it has become a complete nightmare for Warner and DC. Between the Ezra Miller scandals, the problems during the recording, change of directors of the studies, and the monumental failure that he had already suffered Shazam! fury of the gods, this was the movie, which in theory, was going to redeem the DC Extended Universe. But he has finished burying it.
Now all that remains is to wait for James Gunn and Peter Safran to completely rebuild the franchise. The plan is to provide it with much more order, through phases, like the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But there is still another DC movie that looks like it will be the third flop of the year. Is about Blue Beetlewhich opens on August 18, 2023 and features Xolo Maridueña playing the main character.
We’ll probably see a new, completely redesigned DC Extended Universe when it’s released. Superman: Legacy, written and directed by James Gunn. For that we have to wait until 2025.