The Flash | June 16 2023 | Ezra Miller, Michael Keaton | We’re stoping the count at a Nice 69% RT (it’s 72% For Real) | Please Remember that Your Enjoyment Of The Film is Not Based On Others Opinions And To Be Nice To Each Other

[JustWatching]

Checked the app this morning and my local Cinemark had sold 25 tix across 9 screenings so far, which for this location is…not totally horrible. It’s also showing on a double bill with Spiderverse at the local drive-in. Might have to spring for a can of bug spray and check that out.

[Phoenix22]

I feel like this film had several problems, this one should have come out way before JL, like in 2014 or 2015 and be a real origins story with a Flash-focused plot and then build on to that for JL. Also while Ezra is a good actor, I never liked him as Barry (neither Gal or Jason for their DC roles but that's for another day). They were not traditionally cute for the GA to push for them. A Flash origins (closing chapter?) film this late is just bonekiller and then if they already said that the DCEU is dead weight well... what's the point then? In that case they could have done an Elseworlds film like The Batman and I feel like it could have been bigger and better than what we have now, it's too late to save the film , good thing is that at least it seems to be good.

 

Good luck to Aquaman 2 because at least Gunn has said that Blue Beetle will be the first DCU character and that could help a bit and has added value for the character because you can invest your time/attention to him unlike Flash or Aquaman, and let's not talk about Shazam.

 

Black Adam got lucky that they hadn't announced the reshuffle and that Dwayne was saying over and over that this was the start of something and even I thought that they were going to make Black Adam the main villain and have a WW3 stolyline... 

[BlitheringEdiot]

My viewing is in about 1 hour (UK), Cinema seems to be half full for my viewing. There's 4 more showtimes after this one, one of them is about 70% full, one is 50%, the other two are around 20% full as of now. 

Edited June 14, 2023 by BlitheringEdiot

[Johnny Tran]

12 hours ago, Speedorito said:

It’s interesting how the narrative around this movie went from “This movie will be a huge success and anyone who says otherwise just has a vendetta against DC movies” to “Y’know, it’s actually not a bad thing if the movie they pushed incredibly hard barely opens above Black Adam and barely makes a profit (if it even breaks even)”

 

Maybe because you are quoting two different people who said two different things.  The board isn't just a hive mind echo chamber. 

 

Personally, I always felt the big "hype" was overblown because it was internet generated and that's always the case. 

[21C]

3 hours ago, Steele131 said:

I get why they did it but I think WB announcing they’re rebooting the whole thing with Gunn and Safran really made fans and audiences not care or overly enthusiastic about these last few remaining old DCEU films. Like why should audiences go see these movies if they won’t matter?

I don't really think that many audiences know or care about that. Also, I'll keep repeating it: If the film itself looked interesting to the general audience, they'd be going to see it regardless. Completely different example, I know, but Joker was heavily advertised as leading to nothing and it still reached an almost 100 million dollar opening even with an R-rating and controversies because people were interested on that film.
The connected universe thing should serve as a boost, not as the entire crutch. 

[SpiderByte]

3 hours ago, John Marston said:

Thinking 50m or less domestic for Blue Beetle. Looks like a Disney channel movie 

Absolutely lunacy. Madness. Zero percent chance it's under Dark Phoenix 

[John Marston]

3 minutes ago, SpiderByte said:

Absolutely lunacy. Madness. Zero percent chance it's under Dark Phoenix 

 

 

Shazam 2 went under Dark Phoenix and that was following a 140m grossing predecessor 

Edited June 14, 2023 by John Marston

[wildphantom]

The visual effects are no way near as bad as is being made out in some quarters. There’s a couple of shockingly bad moments, but on the whole nowhere near the disaster some are claiming.  Tons of the visual effects in the movie are fantastic.  
 

The movie is fine. Enjoyed it well enough, but felt like I’d already seen it before. The blitz marketing of every plot point has done it no favours. Miller is excellent. 

[WittyUsername]

In retrospect, the fact that WB was simultaneously hyping this thing up like crazy, even though most of us knew it wasn’t going to matter to the future of the DCU, should’ve been a clear sign that they didn’t think it was all that. If the movie really was that great, why would Gunn just ignore it? 

Edited June 14, 2023 by WittyUsername

[reddevil19]

4 minutes ago, SpiderByte said:

Absolutely lunacy. Madness. Zero percent chance it's under Dark Phoenix 

That did 65 million. And despite everything, didn't QUITE look like a Disney+ show.

Shazam 2, part of the same DC franchise, released this year, and a sequel to a well-liked movie, did 57 million.

The Flash, featuring multiple Batman iterations and Supergirl, ain't looking at all hot, to put it mildly.

I don't know why you think 50 million off a low 20's opening is out of the question for a streaming film featuring a Z-list character that appears to be a cheap mix of Venom and Iron Man from the one trailer it has out.

 

Personally I think it clears that even with a sub-30 opening cause legs should be better, but I don't think you should dismiss it completely as "lunacy". We'll see once tracking comes out. 

[ChipDerby]

2 minutes ago, WittyUsername said:

In retrospect, the fact that WB was simultaneously hyping this thing up like crazy, even though most of us knew it wasn’t going to matter to the future of the DCU, should’ve been a clear sign that they didn’t think it was all that. If the movie really was that great, why would Gunn just ignore it? 

 

Probably because it's directly tied to the DCEU. He was hired to revamp it all. Also, we don't really know if he's "just ignoring it" because he's revealed barely anything.

[WittyUsername]

3 minutes ago, ChipDerby said:

 

Probably because it's directly tied to the DCEU. He was hired to revamp it all. Also, we don't really know if he's "just ignoring it" because he's revealed barely anything.

As someone who knows how this movie ends, trust me when I say that I don’t think it’s going to have anything to do with Gunn’s DCU. 

[21C]

6 minutes ago, ChipDerby said:

 

Probably because it's directly tied to the DCEU. He was hired to revamp it all. Also, we don't really know if he's "just ignoring it" because he's revealed barely anything.

Barely revealed anything? He revealed 10 projects 6 months ago and constantly teases his plans and responds to people on Twitter. 

[excel1]

Not to be harsh but if Gunn and Pete are leading DC, they have a responsibility to make peace with, if not outright salvage, the relationship between what is to come & what has already come, i.e. Snyderverse. It what it is. I disliked the decision creatively BUT they handled the Cavill decision from a PR perspective correctly, and when they did so, the cat was out of the bag that they were moving on with everything. 

 

So Gunn and co. are in an awkward spot. I do think that there is a path to success long-term and at the center of it is making films that people actually like, first and foremost, and using this audience reaction as the prior measure of success in the near future.

 

Flash is clearly going to be a hit with audiences and that will pay serious dividends long term even if the ultimate P&L for this individual film looks rough. Plus...

 

Spoiler

for gods sake, this is a real spoiler 

Spoiler

last chance, look the f away id you don't want to see

Spoiler

Clooney as Batman in Brave & Bold would be a great commercial decision 

 

 

 

[21C]

Just now, excel1 said:

Not to be harsh but if Gunn and Pete are leading DC, they have a responsibility to make peace with, if not outright salvage, the relationship between what is to come & what has already come, i.e. Snyderverse. It what it is. I disliked the decision creatively BUT they handled the Cavill decision from a PR perspective correctly, and when they did so, the cat was out of the bag that they were moving on with everything. 

 

So Gunn and co. are in an awkward spot. I do think that there is a path to success long-term and at the center of it is making films that people actually like, first and foremost, and using this audience reaction as the prior measure of success in the near future.

 

Flash is clearly going to be a hit with audiences and that will pay serious dividends long term even if the ultimate P&L for this individual film looks rough. Plus...

 

  Hide contents

for gods sake, this is a real spoiler 

  Hide contents

last chance, look the f away id you don't want to see

  Hide contents

Clooney as Batman in Brave & Bold would be a great commercial decision 

 

 

 

Spoiler

Putting the one Batman that flopped as the lead in the Batman reboot movie that's gonna come at the most awkward spot imaginable between an already succesful Batman franchise only to follow up the gag end of a movie with horrible opening weekend numbers would be a great commercial decision? 

 

[excel1]

4 minutes ago, 21C said:

  Hide contents

Putting the one Batman that flopped as the lead in the Batman reboot movie that's gonna come at the most awkward spot imaginable between an already succesful Batman franchise only to follow up the gag end of a movie with horrible opening weekend numbers would be a great commercial decision? 

 

 

Spoiler

He is a much bigger and more beloved star today than he was then. TBH I think he would have a much larger impact than Keaton - who was never a draw outside 2 Bat films, 1 of which was more of a historically large marketing success headline by JACK NICHOLSON and the other film which was its direct sequel. Hell, BATMAN FOREVER lost Keaton and sold even more tickets on opening weekend than RETURNS did.

 

Edited June 14, 2023 by excel1

[CoolioD1]

Just got out of this. It was indeed… pretty decent. Honestly for the Warner/DC executives who thought they had a masterpiece on their hands after watching Black Adam and Shazam 2, I get it.

 

The core story is actually pretty good but the fan servicey moments are baaaad. Except for the one cameo the internet didn’t spoil for me ahead of time that one was actually good and well deployed.

Edited June 14, 2023 by CoolioD1

[Serpico Jones]

11 minutes ago, excel1 said:

 

  Hide contents

He is a much bigger and more beloved star today than he was then. TBH I think he would have a much larger impact than Keaton - who was never a draw outside 2 Bat films, 1 of which was more of a historically large marketing success headline by JACK NICHOLSON and the other film which was its direct sequel. Hell, BATMAN FOREVER lost Keaton and sold even more tickets on opening weekend than RETURNS did.

 

I completely agree with you. 

[ChipDerby]

35 minutes ago, 21C said:

Barely revealed anything? He revealed 10 projects 6 months ago and constantly teases his plans and responds to people on Twitter. 

 

cool man

[SpiderByte]

1 hour ago, John Marston said:

 

 

Shazam 2 went under Dark Phoenix and that was following a 140m grossing predecessor 

With truly terrible reviews. I highly doubt Blue Beetle does that badly.