‘The Flash’ Starring Ezra Miller Predicted To Have Anemic $70 Million Domestic Opening Weekend
John F. Trent
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A new report claims that the upcoming The Flash film starring Ezra Miller is only expected to bring in $70 million in its domestic opening weekend.
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen aka The Flash in The Flash (2023), DC Films
The Hollywood Reporter reports the film “is pacing to open in the $70 million range, according to sources who have access to tracking data.”
Furthermore, their report claims that “insiders say that’s a soft number for a movie that’s been heavily promoted by Warner Brothers Discovery as the best superhero film of all time.”
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen aka The Flash in The Flash (2023), DC Films
This new report flies in the face of long-range tracking predictions from Box Office Pro that predicted the film would gross between $115 million and $140 million in its opening weekend.
The outlet explained their predictions at the time claiming the movie was “benefiting from a wave of mostly positive reviews out of early industry screenings, as well as social media support from the likes of DC’s new co-chief James Gunn.”
They also pointed to the nostalgia factor with Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck returning as Batman, “Further underpinning positivity in box office prospects is the return of Michael Keaton in his iconic role as Bruce Wayne/The Batman, as well as an advertised cameo by Ben Affleck in his version of the same role.”
Michael Keaton as Batman in The Flash (2023), Warner Bros. Pictures
However, the outlet also detailed that the film starring Ezra Miller and James Gunn’s pending reboot of the DC Universe were turning potential moviegoers off.
Box Office Pro explained, “The Flash has the added weight of two key elements: Ezra Miller’s well-publicized legal entanglements, and the general ambiguity of DC films as this film features characters from the “Zack Snyder-verse” at a time when fandom is well aware of major reboots ahead under James Gunn’s burgeoning leadership.”
Ezra Miller as Barry Allen aka The Flash in The Flash (2023), DC Films
Recent DC Extended Universe films, which The Flash is technically still part of, have failed at the box office. Most recently Shazam! Fury of the Gods only had a $30.1 million opening weekend and went on to gross an abysmal $57.6 million domestically. It had a global haul of just $132.2 million. The film had an estimated production budget of $125 million.
Before Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Black Adam had an opening weekend of $67 million and went on to gross a total of $168.1 million domestically. The film only grossed $391.2 million globally, It had an estimated production budget of $200 million.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Black Adam in Black Adam (2022). Warner Bros. Pictures
The James Gunn directed The Suicide Squad also fared poorly at the box office. The film had an opening weekend of $26.2 million and grossed just $55.8 million in its entire domestic run. It grossed $167 million globally. The movie had an estimated $185 million production budget.
Wonder Woman 1984 didn’t fare any better. It grossed just $16.7 million in its opening weekend. It went on to gross $46.8 million in its entire domestic run. Globally, it grossed just $166.3 million. The movie had an estimated $200 million production budget.
Birds of Prey had an opening weekend of $33 million. It grossed a total of $84.1 million domestically. At the global box office it brought in $201 million. The film had an estimated budget of $82 million.
Diana (Gal Gadot) and Steve Trevor (Chris Prine) arrive at the White House to stop Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal) in Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), Warner Bros. Pictures via Blu-ray
The last time a DCEU film had a domestic gross above of $200 million was 2018’s Aquaman. That film had an opening weekend of $67.8 million. It went on to gross $335 million domestically. Globally, it earned $1.1 billion with China making up a significant portion of the international box office to the tune of $291.8 million.
As far as a DCEU film grossing more than $100 million in its opening weekend, one has to go back to 2017’s Wonder Woman. That movie grossed $103.2 million in its opening weekend. It went on to earn $412.5 million in total at the domestic box office. It brought in a global gross of $817.6 million.
Jason Momoa as Aquaman in Aquaman (2018), DC Films
To put this in perspective, Marvel Studios’ The Eternals was the most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe film to have an opening weekend below $100 million. The movie’s opening weekend clocked in at $71.2 million. It finished it’s domestic run at $164.8 million. It’s entire global run ended at $401.7 million. The movie had a $200 million production budget.
One of the most recent Marvel Studios’ releases Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania had an opening weekend of $106.1 million. The film would finish its domestic run at $214.4 million and it worldwide run at $463.5 million. The film would lose money for Marvel Studios due to the film’s estimated $200 million production budget.
Barry Allen (Ezra Miller), Supergirl (Sasha Calle), and Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) prepare to take on Zod (Michael Shannon) in The Flash (2023), Warner Bros. Discovery
If this new report is accurate, The Flash has its work cut out for it and will have to have really long legs at that box office. However, it will have stiff competition. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arrives in theaters two weeks ahead of The Flash on June 2nd. A week before the film comes out sees the release of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
The film will get a reprieve the week after it releases as there is not a big blockbuster contender. However on June 30th Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny releases, albeit that film might have its own struggles at the box office.
On July 12th, the film will come up against Tom Cruise and Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One.
Hayley Atwell and Tom Cruise in Mission: Impossible Dead Reckoning – Part One from Paramount Pictures and Skydance.
Not only does the film face stiff competition, but the film reportedly has an enormous production budget. While The-Numbers reports the film’s production budget is $200 million. Gary Buechler at Nerdrotic detailed that a number of sources informed him that the film needs to make at least $1 billion to turn a profit.
He explained, “According to people, not one person, we’re going to say two people, who worked directly with Warner Bros. in this realm of superheroes this is the most expensive movie ever made. Now, I did not get the distinction of by Warner Bros. or in the history of Hollywood. Your guess is as good as mine. Realistically, we’ll probably just say Warner Bros., which would still be pretty impressive.”
“There’s a reported budget, but that’s not it. That’s not it. So I was told by these two people it needs to make $1 billion to turn a profit,” he added.
If that is indeed the case it’s hard to see how The Flash will ever achieve that number if its opening weekend haul is only $70 million.
Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) attempts to kick start his powers in The Flash (2023), Warner Bros. Discovery
What do you make of this new box office prediction for The Flash’s opening weekend?
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