The Flash Falls Far and Fast in Second Weekend at Box Office

While The Flash had been given tremendous hype leading up to its arrival in movie theaters, the epic superhero film has underperformed at the box office. It opened to just over $55 million with a worldwide haul of around $130 million, and given how hundreds of millions were spent on the budget and marketing costs, these numbers have been disappointing for Warner Bros. Discovery. What’s worse for the film is that it’s looking at a very steep fall with its second weekend in theaters, which is among the lowest that there’s ever been for a big-budget tentpole superhero film.

Per TheWrap, The Flash is projected to drop by more than 70% in theaters compared to its opening weekend, estimated to pull in around $14-16 million domestically. Some estimates expect The Flash will finish the weekend at a 72% drop, which would make it the second-worst second-weekend fall since Halloween Ends saw an 80% drop last fall, though that horror sequel was notably released on Peacock on the same day as its theatrical premiere. The Flash‘s numbers would also make it have a sharper fall than Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which had a 69.9% drop for weekend two.

The Flash may also set the record for the furthest fall if it manages to see a fall of more than 73.8%. That’s what Jared Leto’s Morbius saw upon its own disastrous run in theaters last year. With that said, Morbius also had a worse opening than The Flash, as it debuted at $39 million. The Flash is also looking to lose its No. 1 spot to either Elemental or Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse for the weekend’s box office.

Related: Batman Beyond Movie Starring Michael Keaton Was Planned…if The Flash Did Well

The Flash Falls Short in Theaters

What happened with The Flash? There had been a lot of excitement for the film to a certain extent, notably with the hyped return of Michael Keaton as Batman. But the film also had some factors that may have led to the disappointing box office performance. It must be noted that lead star Ezra Miller generated tremendous controversy with the film in post-production, and although the actor has largely kept a low profile over the past year, the damage may have been done, as some filmgoers said they wouldn’t see The Flash with them in it. It could also be theorized that superhero fatigue is setting in to an extent with filmgoers, making many of these films not quite as must-see as they used to be.

In any case, chances are that The Flash won’t be getting a sequel with these box office numbers in mind. That also likely means that this is the end of Miller as The Flash. Prior to the film’s release, it had been teased that a sequel could potentially happen with Miller reprising the role, but that would have obviously depended upon the movie doing well. There are rumors that a Batman Beyond movie was tentatively going to be made if The Flash performed well, now canceled as a result of the box office performance.

The Flash is now playing in movie theaters.