DC’s The Flash Starring Ezra Miller Was Released In 2023 But Flopped At The Box Office ( Photo Credit – IMDb )
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One of DC’s most ambitious projects was one of their worst box office failures. The Flash was an astounding failure despite its much-hyped status. The movie was clouded by the scandal of its lead, Ezra Miller, but its net profit suffered because of everything’s storyline. After a year, the movie emerged as the second most significant failure of 2023 and lost considerable money.
There was a lot of anticipation about The Flash, especially with the rumors of a Michael Keaton cameo. However, the movie’s public suffered after lead star Ezra Miller was arrested for heinous allegations. Still, die-hard fans of the franchise showed up, but it wasn’t enough. After years of production issues, the movie persevered to eventually hit theaters despite the controversies surrounding its lead actor and the strategic changes made with Warner Bros. and DC. The film experienced the worst drop in box office returns from the first to second week in DC history, falling 72.5% from an already disappointing opening weekend.
The Andy Muschetti-directed DC film had a reported budget of USD 220 million, plus $150 million USD in promotional costs. Warner Bros. is expected to lose more than $200 million USD due to the major box office flop, making it the studio’s most significant financial loss from a superhero film.
In only its third week in theaters, the film earned $5.23 million USD, bringing its domestic total to $99 million USD. The film’s revenue dropped by 62.5% in the third week, following a decline in the second week. The Flash has now surpassed Shazam! Fury of the Gods was expected to lose $150 million USD. The estimated loss is $155 Million, the second biggest after Marvel’s $25 Million loss.
What Went Wrong With The Flash?
Well, for starters, it does not help when your lead star, in this case, Ezra Miller, was making headlines and getting detained for grooming allegations. Miller was kept at bay while promoting the DC film, and the film’s stars Michael Keaton, reprising his role as Batman, were either available in limited quantities or avoided doing press (no one wanted to ask Miller questions).
( Photo Credit – IMDb )
Still, credit was due to the new Warner Bros. administration of Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy and DC executives James Gunn and Peter Safran. Although they inherited this film, they believed in it and promoted it as the ultimate DC time-warp film, complete with cameos from previous superheroes. They even gave exhibitors an early preview of the film at CinemaCon. Unfortunately, the Spider-Man: No Way Home-inspired stunt failed to capture the audience’s audience’s
The movie did not get a revival on OTT either; fans watched the film, but the ratings seemed lower than ever.
[Note: Box Office Numbers Are Based On Estimates And Various Sources. Numbers Have Not Been Independently Verified By Koimoi]
