The Flash Speeds into a Disappointing Opening.
Despite the running up the city, unfortunately The Flash could not run up the expected numbers in the box office. With the production budget costing almost $300 million, the movie debuted with $55 million which wasn’t close to breaking even. Marketed as “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made,” the new DC film could not live up to the hype of its predecessors like Wonder Woman, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, Suicide Squad, and Aquaman.
The Warner Brothers film featured comic superhero Barry Allen, otherwise known as The Flash, in his quest to save his mother from being murdered; however as he time travels, Allen accidently creates an opening to the DC multiverse. The much-anticipated movie had been put on a delay because of the pandemic, but it gave the team more time to for polishing.
The speedster’s story, originally in comic form, has already hit the screens with this addition being the latest. Out of the eight live-action movies, the first three were released in the early 1990s that feature The Flash and the other four feature him as part of the DC extended universe, such as in Justice League. His story is also told in the CW series that stars Grant Gustin in the Arrowverse, or CW multiverse, along with the Arrow, Supergirl, and the DC Legends.
This new movie features Ezra Miller as the scarlet speedster, however it does not come without controversy. Miller’s had a few brushes with the law from the last couple of years with several arrests, assault and harassment charges, and a felony burglary. He spoke out soon after about dealing with complex mental health issues and how he started treatment and apologized for his actions.
The Flash, despite not living up to the expectations, still managed to come on top compared to Pixar’s Elementals that opened with a disappointing $29.5 million making it the worst debut in Pixar history. With Pixar’s recent struggles with a series of underachieving openings, the company was hoping to go back to its pre-pandemic box office numbers, but they might have to wait until the next movie to jumpstart their comeback.
