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Credit: Warner Bros.Warner Bros. has been battling uphill with its last few big-budget releases. Shazam 2 bombed at the box office, and The Flash beat that by becoming the least successful superhero movie ever. The company is now too embarrassed with Ezra Miller’s latest offering to allow it to arrive on streaming.
Related: It’s Official: ‘The Flash’ Is the Worst Flop in Superhero History
The most common case for movies leaving theaters to arrive on streaming services seems to be dwindling every month. Even Warner Bros. has offered some of its bigger films on streaming rather quickly. Take The Batman, for instance. Though it was successful at the box office, the Matt Reeves-led feature began streaming on Max 45 days after its theatrical release. This was likely to capitalize on the excitement of the film via theater numbers and the ability to watch it at home.
The same can be said for DC League of Super-Pets, which also was successful at the box office, earning $207.6 million against a budget of $90 million. The animated venture starred Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Kate McKinnon, Keanu Reeves, and many more. It was released on Max 59 days after its theatrical release.
However, the more recent DC ventures have extended the timeframe between being in theatres and landing on the Max streaming service. That delay likely has to do with the box office numbers and the embarrassment Warner Bros. would feel if said movies also bombed on their streaming numbers.
‘The Flash’ Given Longest Delay In Streaming Date
As stated, Shazam 2 previously held the record for the longest timeframe between theatrical release and streaming, which is 67 days. The film bombed horrifically at the box office, and instead of being able to ride the excitement of the film doing well with box office gains, Warner Bros. likely chose to allow people to forget that it bombed in this manner.
That is likely what happens with The Flash, as the film does not have an established release date yet. All Warner Bros. has stated is that the Ezra Miller-led DC film will arrive on Max in the “fall.” That could mean any number of months between September and December. Using September as a jumping-off point, should it be released on Max at the start of fall (September 23), it would be 99 days between the film’s release in theaters and arrival on streaming.
That might not be the case either, meaning The Flash could be released in October, extending the 99 days by a significant margin. Warner Bros. is likely biding its time simply because of how poorly the film performed at the box office. They would be wise to let the film sit there for a while to let people forget how controversial it was.
Ezra Miller’s behavior likely led to the film tanking in the first place, and despite their apology, people don’t forget heinous accusations so quickly. It’s not that anyone will forget about their controversy by September either, but people might also be more willing to give the film a chance if it’s not shoved into their faces.
Warner Bros. even attempted some wild promotions like turning The Flash into an NFT, likely to make back some of the millions of dollars lost at the box office. We are unsure how successful that attempt was, but it was far too odd to have been a likely success.
Related: ‘The Flash’ Is No Longer a Failure, Takes the #1 Spot
The silver lining is that even though it cost $19.99 to rent The Flash when it arrived on digital, it held the #1 spot on iTunes, Vudu, and Amazon purchases. If people are willing to spend that much to watch it, it could still prove to be a hit on Max. Still, Warner Bros. is allowing time to pass, presumably to let people forget about the embarrassment felt by having the worst-performing DC movie ever.
Why do you think Warner Bros. is taking so long to release The Flash on Max?