Just a few weeks after its premiere, “The Flash” is confirmed to be a significant failure for DC, now standing as one of the greatest disappointments in the history of comic book adaptations
DC has faced several setbacks in recent times: first, the action film “Black Adam” with Dwayne Johnson disappointed at the box office, followed by “Shazam!: Fury of the Gods,” which posted disastrous numbers. The initial earnings of “Blue Beetle” also suggest another flop. And now, according to Comic Book Movie, “The Flash” joins the ranks of the most notable comic book film disappointments of all time.
With production costs of $200 million, “The Flash” was certainly not a budget film, not even accounting for marketing expenses. Estimates indicated that “The Flash” would have needed to earn between $300 and $400 million to be profitable for Warner Bros.
However, the movie fell short of these expectations. After nine weeks in theatres, “The Flash” had only grossed $268.5 million worldwide. Although the speedy DC hero managed to top some streaming charts, “The Flash” will still be remembered as one of the biggest comic book film flops.
Opinions about “The Flash” vary among critics and audiences. On Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of the audience enjoyed the film, while professional critics were more reserved with a 64% approval rate. On Metacritic, critics and viewers aligned more closely, as indicated by a Metascore of 56/100 and a user score of 5.6/10. On the International Movie Database (IMDb), the film receives 6.9 out of 10 stars based on 142,000 reviews.