The Flash Could End Up Costing Warner Bros. $200 Million
The Flash isn't just a box office failure; it could end up costing Warner Bros. over $200 million.
Since merging with Discovery, Warner Bros. has been catching a lot of flack from its user base and other studios as it’s reframed its lineup of content, leading to the cancelation of projects like Batgirl and the wiping of titles from Max. With James Gunn and Peter Safran taking over DC Studios, it became clear that Warner Bros. was ready to start fresh with their superhero IP and wipe the slate clean from previous box office bombs. Unfortunately, The Flash, the film that was rumored to be hitting the reset button, may not be the money-maker that it was expected to be as, according to box office projections, it could end up costing the studio almost $200 million.
As Twitter user Luis Fernando brought to light, in a post that you can see above, while The Flash ran past the $200 million global box office mark during its second weekend in theaters, there could still be disastrous consequences for Warner Bros. Discovery as, if ticket sales continue to slump, they may lose the same amount.
The marketing campaign alone stacked $150 million to the film’s budget, while the production costs were somewhere around $190 million. For the film to break even, they’ll need to hope that more theatergoers are waiting until the crowds die down to buy a ticket.
When it comes to why The Flash is crumbling at the box office, it’s anyone’s guess. Following the catastrophe that was Shazam: Fury of the Gods, all signs pointed to the Ezra Miller-led multiverse jumping film to put things back on track for DC.
Part of the reason the title may not be performing as well as it was first speculated could be due to allegations that Miller has faced over the last year or so.
While they paved the way for themself in the world of acting, leaving audiences everywhere with their jaws on the floor following their performance in films like We Need to Talk About Kevin and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Ezra Miller caused more drama off the set of The Flash than on it.
Facing a slew of claims of physical abuse, stalking, and other shocking behavior, the performer’s mental health made more headlines than the Andrés Muschietti directed film.
Still, the studio stuck by Ezra Miller, refusing to replace them as the title character when fans called for The Flash series star Grant Gustin to step in or just scrap the entire project together and use the money toward the previously canceled Batgirl.
With the plummeting box office numbers, we’re wondering if Warner Bros. Discovery is regretting its move or standing by its decision of pushing forward.
The Flash sees the titular superhero in his first standalone feature as he speeds back through time to save his mother from being murdered, a move that will unknowingly cause a catastrophic event between universes.
With Michael Keaton reprising his role of Batman having last put on the cape three decades ago in the Tim Burton-helmed films, one of the biggest draws to The Flash was the guest appearances from DC stars of yesteryear.
Unfortunately, even the late-in-the-game announcement that Nicolas Cage would be finally appearing as the Man of Steel from the scrapped Superman Lives couldn’t save The Flash from becoming a box office bomb. For now, only time will tell if The Flash will get back on track.
