“The Flash” by Warner Bros. Pictures and Pixar’s “Elemental” got off to a disappointing start this holiday weekend, with both films falling short of expectations.
The Ezra Miller-directed DC Comics adaptation made just $55 million for the three-day domestic haul, down from projections of $70 million launched last week.
Mixed reviews and B CinemaScore indicate that the response to the film hasn’t been so good. The film also stumbled internationally with $75 million in 78 markets for a worldwide debut of $139 million, suggesting it could well be another “Black Adam” style flop.
“Elemental,” meanwhile, grossed just $29.5 million domestically, down from projections of $40 million the other week and easily Pixar’s worst theatrical opening to date. day – well behind “Onward” and “The Good Dinosaur” at $39 million each.
Internationally, it earned an even more tepid additional $15 million, bringing its debut weekend to just $44.5 million. Reviews were better, with an A CinemaScore suggesting it could get some legs in the coming weeks.
Still, both films cost around $200 million to make and around $100 million to market, which means both could end up being expensive flops. The other newcomer this week was “The Blackening,” which grossed $6 million in its opening weekend on a budget of $5 million.
Sony’s ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ landed in third place with a still solid $27.8 million in its third weekend – with the film having racked up $280 million so far on the domestic market and $489.3 million worldwide.
Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” was fourth with an additional $20 million – a rather large 67% drop in the second weekend. He earned $103 million domestically and $174.3 million internationally, but will have to continue to profit from his $200 million budget.
“The Little Mermaid” closed the top five with $11.6 million in its fourth weekend. The film has grossed $466 million worldwide to date, including $253 million domestically. With its pricey $250 million budget, it might not break even in its theatrical run.
In limited edition, the news was much rosier. Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” raised $790,000 from six theaters in New York and Los Angeles. That gave him an average of $132,211 per screen — the best screen average seen since 2016’s “La La Land.”
The film expands next weekend to 1,500 theaters and hopes to avoid the fate of many acclaimed indies like “Tar” and “Beau Is Afraid” which had strong limited starts and then crashed during release. wide opening.