The Flash Managed To Outgross Just One Single MCU Movie At The Box Office
It almost feels like kicking a dead horse at this point, but it is absolutely no secret that "The Flash" was a big bomb. Were it not for "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" facing down becoming Disney's biggest flop since "John Carter," it would be uncontested as the summer's biggest loser. Again, I'm not trying to be mean here, but the realities are what they are. As the Scarlet Speedster's first live-action solo film lets out its last gasps of life in theaters, it has actually managed to pass a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie at the box office. But it's just one and has no shot at passing any others, serving to illustrate just how poorly DC's latest performed.
Per The Numbers, after adding less than $6,000 domestically on Tuesday along with a $68,653 eighth weekend, "The Flash" has now earned $268.1 million globally against a huge $200 million production budget, which does not account for marketing. Given that the movie has already been on VOD for weeks now, its total is unlikely to grow by much before it leaves theaters entirely in the near future.
In comparing director Andy Muschietti's DC film to the MCU, it did manage to surpass the total gross of 2008's "The Incredible Hulk." Released as the second film in the MCU after "Iron Man," it made $265.5 million, ranking as by far the lowest-grossing entry in the series to date. The next closest is "Captain America: The First Avenger" ($370 million), so it's not particularly close. It truly serves as an indicator of just how much of an outlier "Incredible Hulk" was. It's the lowest of low bars for Marvel Studios 15 years removed, and it's a bar that "The Flash" was barely able to clear.
Gone from theaters in a Flash
I am not here to ignite some needless Marvel vs. DC rivalry, nor am I trying to pick on any movie needlessly. I love Muschietti as a filmmaker and, to show my hand, I liked "The Flash" just fine. But it is worth remembering that Warner Bros. hyped this movie up a great deal in the lead up to its theatrical release, with DC Studios co-head James Gunn calling it one of the best superhero movies he had ever seen. After years of development and much hype, it all amounted to nothing in terms of meaningful interest from the moviegoing public.
The fact that Marvel Studios, across 15 years and more than 30 films, has only produced one superhero movie that made less money is telling. Granted, looking at what happened to "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" earlier this year, and with the reception to "Secret Invasion" on Disney+, Marvel has its own problems at the moment. But that's another conversation entirely.
Warner Bros. is going to lose tens of millions on "The Flash" and they already lost a boatload of money on "Shazam! Fury of the Gods" ($132 million worldwide box office/$125 million budget) earlier this year. DC is not exactly in great shape, and it's probably for the best that Gunn and his DC Studios partner Peter Safran are going to reboot the DC Universe in the coming years. What's going on now simply isn't working. One can only hope that audiences can be won over by future DC movies that aren't named "The Batman" once the dust settles because, for the moment, things look grim.
"The Flash" is in theaters and on VOD now, with the Blu-ray set to hit shelves on August 29, 2023.