The DC Extended Universe’s woes continue. Even after Warner Bros. left no stone unturned in getting the word out about this week’s The Flash, the movie is falling short of even conservative estimates, and is eyeing just $55 million across its three-day debut, and around $62 million across the four-day Juneteenth holiday weekend. We’re talking Shazam! ($53 million debut) numbers here. This actually also puts The Flash under Black Adam, which opened to $67 million late last year, before tanking with under $400 million globally, despite a publicity campaign with star Dwayne Johnson front and center.
The Flash doesn’t have a star of that stature among its ranks. But what it does have is more multiverse-hopping shenanigans. You’d think that after the back-to-back success of Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, audiences would happily sample another similar superhero movie, but no. The dwindling interest in the DCEU is showing no signs of slowing down. Directed by Andy Muschietti, The Flash has been designed as something of a creative reset for the troubled franchise, which will now be overseen by co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
But the project appeared to be cursed from the beginning, with numerous directors dropping out, and star Ezra Miller’s erratic public behavior attracting bad press and ultimately sidelining them from the promotional tour. But even if everything had been perfect behind-the-scenes, W.B. would still have a movie that most audiences simply do not seem like all that much. Contrary to the hype that the studio has been building around the film over the last few weeks — Gunn has been tweeting constantly, and the studio somehow scored a blurb from Stephen King as well — The Flash has only been able to score a very disappointing B CinemaScore from opening day audiences. It currently sits at a borderline “fresh” 67% rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.
The Flash’s $55 million three-day debut pales in comparison to the kind of numbers that DCEU titles were delivering a decade ago — Man of Steel opened to $116 million and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice made $166 million. Even the poorly received Suicide Squad managed to generate $133 million in its opening weekend, and although the first Aquaman’s debut is (kind of) in the same ballpark as The Flash, that movie opened during Christmastime and legged it to over $1 billion worldwide on the back of enthusiastic audience response. Next weekend will make it clear if The Flash is indeed a flop.
The Sole Bright Spot This Weekend Debuted Outside the Top Five
The number two spot went to Disney-Pixar’s Elemental, which barely managed to edge out holdover animated hit Across the Spider-Verse. The movie is expected to make $29 million in its opening weekend, continuing Pixar’s post-pandemic troubles. The studio hasn’t had a hit since 2019’s Toy Story 4, and Elemental’s soft opening can only be combated by its strong A CinemaScore, which might encourage audiences to give it a shot over the summer movie season. Across the Spider-Verse finished at the number three position in its third weekend in theaters. The movie added an estimated $27 million across three days, taking its running domestic total to $270 million.
Slipping to the fourth spot after topping the chart last weekend, Paramount’s Transformers: Rise of the Beasts passed the $100 million mark domestically after adding an estimated $20 million this weekend. This represents a massive 67% drop, and suggests that Rise of the Beasts isn’t going to be resoundingly successful new franchise-starter that the studio was hoping for. Director Tim Story’s The Blackening opened in sixth place with an estimated $7.5 million debut, coming in behind Disney's The Little Mermaid.
On a brighter note, director Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City opened in six theaters this weekend, and generated the best per-screen average of any specialty release since 2016’s La La Land. The star-studded comedy drama is estimated to have made $750,000 in its opening weekend, delivering a per-screen average of $132,000. You can watch our interview with The Flash director Muschietti here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
