1
Credit: DC / Warner Bros.The Flash had a whole lot of sky-high expectations placed on it before the Ezra Miller film even raced into theaters, and it disappointed on pretty much every level from box office to critical regard to acceptable SFX. It turns out that things were even worse than anyone could have predicted, and The Flash is now officially the single biggest flop in superhero movie history.
Related: ‘The Flash’ Sequel Ditches Ezra Miller For New Actor
We previously reported that the Andy Muschietti-directed DC Studios would-be blockbuster had become the worst bomb in the history of Warner Bros (which definitely did not need extra bad press right now). It seems things had gotten so bad that Warner Bros had already decided to pull the plug and withdraw The Flash from hundreds of theaters, attempting to cut its losses while it could.
‘The Flash’ Is Deep in the Financial Red
However, the damage is already done. The Flash now tops the list of superhero box office flops, based on its outrageously huge budget to actual financial performance. Currently, The Flash has made just over $100 million at the domestic box office, and another estimated $147 million internationally (per Box Office Mojo).
Those would be decent numbers for many, less-hyped movies, except that the Ezra Miller movie had a production budget of $220 million and a promotional budget of up to $150 million, meaning that the movie is still deep into the red as Warner Bros removes it from theaters. While that might save money in the short term, it also removes the possibility of making up that deficit.
It is estimated that the DC Studios film might lose the company as much as $200 million, a staggering sum, making it the financially worst-ever superhero movie on balance.
DC Dominates Superhero Movie History in Flops
At this point, DC movies account for six of the biggest comic book movie disasters (per The Direct), making them the majority of the biggest flops in superhero movie history. The Flash tops the list, with Shazam! Fury of the Gods (2023), Wonder Woman 1984 (2020), The Suicide Squad (2021), Black Adam (2021), and Green Lantern (2011) all being included.
Related: ‘The Flash’ Sequel Ditches Ezra Miller For New Actor
Notably, out of those six flops, only the Ryan Reynolds-led Green Lantern precedes the current era of DC movies, making the last three years an utter disaster for Warner Bros and superhero movies as a pairing.
Despite the presence of Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, Gal Gadot, Michael Shannon, and a whole bunch of CGI cameos straight from the depths of the uncanny valley, The Flash has made the worst kind of history. No wonder Warner Bros is ready to hand over the reins to James Gunn and see what a new voice can do for the DC Universe. Things can not go worse for them, literally.