The film’s budget appears to have been higher than original estimates, and with the recent flop of Blue Beetle, the DCU looks like a huge drain on cash.
The failure of The Flash is arguably the most devastating in the entire history of the DCU since the inception of the Cinematic Universe in 2013.
During early showings, the film was hailed as one of, if not the best superhero movies ever made, but when it came to its official release, the reception wasn’t nearly as positive, with The Flash being decimated by both critics and fans. . It became a huge failure at the box office.
But new information about the film’s budget adds to the embarrassment of its failure.
Although The Flash was originally budgeted at $200-220 million, a recent article by The Hollywood Reporter notes that the film “made $268 million at the global box office against a budget of $300 million.”
Considering that an additional $65 million or so was spent on marketing, The Flash never broke even, making his staggeringly bad financial situation even worse.
To add insult to injury, the movie seems to have pulled everything else associated with the iconic superhero with it.
The best-selling toys released with the movie were Batman and the Batmobile, simply because of their tie-in to Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman movie.
It even had a negative impact on speed comic book sales, effectively putting a burn notice on everything related to The Flash.
The newest addition to the DCU, Blue Beetle, also turned out to be a predictable financial disaster, despite somewhat warm reviews, with various sources predicting that it would make between $25 million and $55 million domestically during its opening weekend.
The less optimistic estimate turned out to be correct, grossing exactly $25 million in the United States and Canada for a worldwide total of $43.6 million against a budget of $104 million.
With all of this in mind, the future of the series looks rather bleak unless James Gunn can get the DCU back on its feet.
The next installment in the cinematic universe, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, is set to be released on December 20, 2023, and will be the DCU’s last chance to turn a profit until the next reboot.
source: Hollywood Reporter
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