The Flash is the second of four big-budget DC adaptations Warner Bros. is releasing this year, starting with Shazam! Fury of the Gods in March, followed by Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in August and December.
Ezra Miller stars in The Flash
However, these films were conceived and developed by a group of executives who have all left the studio; in their place, new DC Studios heads James Gunn and Peter Safran announced that they would reboot the DC film franchise in 2025, starting with Superman: Legacy directed by James Gunn.
That leaves Warner Bros. in one of the worst situations ever: its 2023 DC slate is now the orphans in a dying cinematic universe, while the studio still needs audiences to see them on a blockbuster scale.
"It was inevitable but the timing was terrible," said a source at a rival studio.
Action scene in The Flash
Indeed, things aren't going well. According to outside studio experts, the production budget and potential marketing spend for these four films totals between $1.1 billion and $1.2 billion, according to Variety .
Shazam! Fury of the Gods earned just $133 million worldwide. The Flash didn’t fare much better, opening with just $55 million in the U.S. and Canada, earning $135.7 million worldwide as of June 20—a below-expected haul.
“The movie should have opened at $120 million in North America,” said an industry veteran who has worked on several major film marketing campaigns.
The Flash's promotion has also faced unprecedented difficulties caused by star Ezra Miller, including multiple allegations of misconduct, sexual abuse and assault, citing "complex mental health issues".
The Flash's promotion also faced unprecedented difficulties caused by star Ezra Miller.
To make up for the problematic lead, Warner Bros. spent a lot of money promoting the film on television during the NBA Finals. Director Andy Muschietti did many interviews praising Ezra Miller. In January 2023, James Gunn called The Flash "one of the best superhero movies I've ever seen."
“When they call it ‘the greatest superhero movie ever,’ if it’s not true, you’re setting yourself up for failure. In this environment, it’s better not to overpromise,” said one rival studio executive.
Perhaps most worrying for Warner Bros., however, is the possibility that audiences are becoming indifferent to cinematic universes. There have been at least 55 comic book movies in the past 10 years alone, most of them part of interconnected mega-franchises that rely on fans flocking to see any one superhero.
Ezra Miller plays Barry Allen in two different times
“When you have a movie set in a multiverse, it requires audiences to remember past movies to enjoy what’s happening in front of them,” said Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock. He noted that The Flash ’s opening weekend in North America is roughly on par with the debuts of other DC Universe titles like Black Adam ($67 million) and Aquaman ($68 million), while Joker and The Batman opened to $96 million and $134 million, respectively.
Moving forward, Warner Bros. and DC have a narrow and thorny path to walk. Whether Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom can reach the $1.1 billion global revenue of Aquaman in 2018 is still a big question mark.
Ultimately, the most important factor is still quality. "Audiences can get tired of having to watch 20 movies in a cinematic universe to understand a new movie," one film executive commented.
The Flash cost $220 million to produce, not including marketing costs, meaning the film must gross around $500 million to break even.
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