The Hollywood Reporter
Argh.
Such was the refrain across Hollywood on Saturday morning as opening weekend estimates circulated for DC’s highly anticipated The Flash and Pixar’s Elemental, which are debuting domestically over the long Juneteenth holiday weekend. (It’s also Father’s Day on Sunday.)
Starring Ezra Miller in the titular role, Warner Bros. and DC’s The Flash looks to gross $58 million to $60 million for the three-day weekend and $70 million or less for the four days. The superhero tentpole had hoped for a three-day start of at least $70 million so as to come in ahead of such DC titles as Black Adam, which collected $67 million in its first three days.
The Flash earned $24.5 million on Friday, including $9.7 million in previews.
The studio’s leadership has been hyping The Flash for months, with Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav proclaiming it is the greatest superhero movie he’s ever seen. Many critics don’t agree with the assessment; the pic currently has a 67 percent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. A bigger problem: Audiences gave the movie a mediocre B CinemaScore (as a way of comparison, Elemental received an A).
While superhero fare often skews heavily male, The Flash is even more so than usual so far, or 73 percent.
Box office pundits believe Ezra Miller’s off-screen woes are impacting the film’s performance. Miller was arrested multiple times in 2022 and was the subject of several controversies, culminating in the actor issuing a statement in August of last year apologizing for their behavior and saying they would receive help for “complex mental health issues.” Miller walked the red carpet at the movie’s premiere but has otherwise been absent from doing publicity for The Flash.
In the Andy Muschietti-directed film, Miller stars in dual roles as alternate-timeline versions of heroic speedster Barry Allen, with Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck making splashy returns in their respective Batman roles (in Keaton’s case, it’s a character he hasn’t played since 1991). Sasha Calle stars as Supergirl, while Michael Shannon reprises his role as General Zod from the 2013 feature Man of Steel.
DC was counting heavily on The Flash to improve its standing after the tepid showing of Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Black Adam.
Ditto for Pixar, which has Elemental opening this weekend. Based on Friday’s earnings of $11.8 million, the family pic is expected to gross $28 million to $32 million for the three days, which is either the lowest or second-lowest debut ever for a Pixar title since Toy Story started off with $29 million nearly three decades ago, not adjusted for inflation.
The hope now is that Elemental will parlay its A CinemaScore into long legs at the box office.
Directed by Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur), Elemental is set in Element City, where fire, water, land and air residents live together. The film’s themes include connection, celebrating differences and finding one’s place in the world.
The story follows Ember (Leah Lewis), a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman whose friendship with a sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade (Mamoudou Athie) challenges her beliefs about the world they live in, where “elements don’t mix.”
One bright spot at the box office this weekend is Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City, which is launching in six theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The Focus Features movie is expected to post a three-day per-theater average of $120,403, the best showing at the specialty box office since Parasite in 2019. The estimated location average for the four days is $134,411.
More to come.
Source: Hollywood Reporter
