The Flash has opened and so far it’s box office has been poor. Today, I’m going to bring up the 3 main reasons why The Flash bombed. I guess we shall see if you agree with me or not? Opening weekend figures for The Flash are less than Black Adam, another DCEU flop. You can find the full details reported by Deadline in our related section below. However I can assure you, it’s not good.
Why? Number 3 – Ezra Miller
Listen, I have nothing against Miller, but I will say I never thought he was well cast for the role of Barry Allen. Sadly for Miller, they have a lot more vocal fans to deal with than me. There are genuinely fans out there who despise Ezra based on his recently (thoroughly) reported bouts of bad and petulant behavior. WB seem convinced Miller is on some sort of redemption arc but there’s two factors at work here. One, that no one liked Ezra as Barry anyway, and two, that fans are harder to fool these days with access to information being what it is. Well, The Flash is all about two versions of Ezra Miller’s Barry Allen, so that’s hardly going to appeal to anyone who dislikes Miller, is it?
I’m not sure there is much else WB could do about this mind, outside of going back in time to not cast Miller as Barry for Justice League. No studio can just afford to completely reshoot a movie with a different actor after all. Still, I’m pretty confident the dislike of Ezra as Barry plays a factor here, but not the only factor.
Why? Number 2 – Leaks, Trailers, Reviews
When it comes to leaks, the plot of The Flash has been pretty much fully detailed, including most surprises for quite some time online. This tends to happen with almost every DCEU movie, partly because they all have such a huge post-production period after shooting. However, secrecy has never really been the hallmark of the DCEU. For me this has a factor in performance and it needs to change going forward.
Some fans will go watch a movie simply through curiosity. However, if the fans already know what happens, perhaps they don’t feel the need to turn up? Why not wait a month when it will inevitably arrive on Max? We get rumors about Marvel movies too, but they’re not often as detailed or early out as with DC. Test screenings especially for DC tend to see every details posted online an hour later.
RELATED: Andy Muschietti Confirmed As Director Of The Brave And The Bold DCU Batman Movie
Another factor here is that almost all the big surprises of the movie were revealed in the trailer. In fact the trailers focus far more on the surprise cameos like Batman and Supergirl than they do Barry. You can probably look at reason number 3 for why that was the case. I think The Flash trailers looked cool, but they do kinda give you en entire plot of the movie bar the end of the third act.
Finally, we can add mixed reviews and audience scores post-release. Word of mouth helps a movie, look at Guardians 3‘s second week drop off compared to the most recent Marvel films. Whilst I would not say The Flash is being trashed in reviews, it’s also not being praised. Instead we had various high profile names tell us before release that the movie was great. Then the reality sets in and it’s a slightly above average DCEU movie with extremely dodgy VFX. In the internet age, fans see all this before they book their tickets.
Why? Number 1 – The DCU
One of the biggest reasons audiences are not interested in The Flash is because the hardcore fans know it means nothing. There will be no more DCEU, only the new DCU which begins with Superman: Legacy and the Elseworlds stories, like sequels for Joker or The Batman.
I think if marketed correctly, Superman: Legacy will create interest. Fans will be keen to see if this is really the new dawn for DC in the movie theatres. If Legacy manages to keep most of it’s secrets, get’s marketed well, gets good reviews, then it will make money. One of the major issues with The Flash is that fans know the new DCU means this story goes nowhere, and none of those cameos or teases matter a damn.
It’s done, it’s over, someone ask Momoa to turn out the lights when Aquaman 2 finally finishes filming. Given Aquaman 2 seems to have been filmed three times already due to test audiences hating it, I almost wonder whether they should even bother marketing it? At this point will the cost even help the movie sell more tickets?
The world is now looking at Superman: Legacy and honestly anything else from DC is yesterdays news.
RELATED: Opening Weekend Box Office For The Flash Lower Than Black Adam – Ouch
If we add all three of my reasons together, it’s not really that tricky to work out why The Flash has bombed at the box office. Yet, I bet there will be some WB exec who’s own ego won’t let them admit any of my reasons are a factor. Instead, they’ll say it’s superhero fatigue, or some other nonsense.
Truth is the DCEU never had an audience and those it did have were just Zack Snyder fanatics who now don’t care. Mark my words, Aquaman 2 will bomb, and Superman: Legacy won’t. After that, it depends on the quality of the new DCU movies. If they are consistently better than the DCEU, they’ll make more money consistently also.
Do you agree or disagree with my the 3 main reasons why The Flash bombed at the box office? As always, share below if you can.
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