Originally published at: The Flash is performing below expectations. Some people are shocked. | Boing Boing
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So not shocked. The writing was on the wall with everything Snyder touched, and this film, from its troubled script to its problematic and uncharismatic lead actor, was no exception. I saw one clip online from an action sequence and couldn’t believe just how craptastic the CGI looked for what was intended to be a blockbuster film.
DC’s woes continue. Only their Batman movies seem to meet expectations, though I’m personally not a fan of the current emo goth version of the franchise. But many seem to love it, so what do I know.
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I’m disappointed but not surprised. I’d been hearing online buzz for the last month from people who got early screenings (including Stephen King, oddly) that it was one of the best superhero movies ever. It sounds like that was just astroturfing.
Those people love Grant Gustin at least as much as they love the Flash. I’m not a younger fan, but I am a fan of that tv series, and it’s the characters and the actors who portrayed them that made that series successful, not the plots, which were pretty meh. It was very much a character driven series, not a story driven series. I don’t know if Gustin could have pulled off the Flash on the big screen, but that audience was not a guaranteed audience for a big budget Flash movie franchise.
I tried to watch that movie twice. I just couldn’t get into it. I found it boring. Hopefully Gunn gets this thing turned in a better direction.
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The trailers for the movie feature ~5 seconds of the Flash and almost entirely have Batman. Even if you didn’t know all the background around the actor’s issues, you’d wonder why the Flash previews have so little Flash in them.
I’ll watch it on some streaming service in the future. Possibly.
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The tune is good.
What?
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I love that movie; So much cheese, and a Giant Ham just chewing up the scenery.
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The word is cachet, not cache (2nd paragraph).
Different word, different spelling, different meaning.
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You misunderstand; a “cache” is a secret or inaccessible storage location for supplies. Batman has the Batcave for keeping his huge collection of crime-fighting gear, Superman has his Fortress of Solitude.
Barry Allen has no such cache.
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He’s so fast, you can’t see him. 
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According to Deadline, The Flash, which was projected to gross $70-$75 million during the 3-day holiday weekend, reportedly earned a disappointing $64 million in its first 4 days.
$130m box office as of this posting, worldwide. Come on, if you’re expecting full coverage for production costs ($200m) in only 4 days, you’re delusional – IMHO.
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The economics of the film industry is super weird, and many movies that are obviously profitable still come in as a loss on paper. But I can believe that this number really is a disappointment given that they also need to make up for the substantial marketing budget, and that most movies these days have very quick declines in ticket sales after the first weekend.
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When it comes to rewriting history time-traveling superheroes have nothing on Hollywood accountants.
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Can we really call Flash an A-list hero considering the fact that they never tried headlining a film with him before and he was not “protected” from live-action TV projects like the Trinity? (Superman is a super exception who gets to be everywhere at this point.) This seemed more like an attempt to turn him into the A-list character he should be. They just did it all sorts of wrong, starting with the fact that in order to best utilize the exposure the character received in Justice League, the The Flash should have come out in 2019.
This weekend was not a great weekend for movies anyway. Father’s Day may have had some impact on that. Stereotypical Dad doesn’t want to see an animated romantic comedy or a B-list superhero who can’t even take the spotlight in his own commercials.
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Flash is definitely an A-lister as far as comic book superhero name recognition goes. He was certainly a better-known pop culture figure than Iron Man was prior to the latter’s first big-budget film in 2008.
Hell, I used to have the underoos.
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What do you mean by that? Batman and WW weren’t “protected” from live-action TV projects, nor do they need protection. They can defend themselves just fine!
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To say nothing of Smallville, Gotham, Lois and Clark, the original George Reeves Superman TV show from the 1950s, the mercifully aborted Wonder Woman TV reboot from 2011, etc.
The big three DC heroes have had plenty of screentime in live-action TV projects.
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I don’t disagree with name recognition, but, underoos aside, how bankable was he? (Or them, considering at least four characters have had the name.) That’s why I question the A-list thing. There’s something there in the fact that it’s taken until now for him to get his own solo film and his two TV series have a 20+ year gap between them. And no solo animated series?
But perhaps I’m just being too hard on the Flash because I really like a couple of the Flashes. (Is that the appropriate plural?) I think there’s a well known name there and generally understood character, but I’m not sure there’s been enough interest in The Flash for there to be anything appreciated (monetarily) beyond iconography.
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Flashi is the plural, just like cacti and octopi.
(hides)
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So you’re saying he wasn’t a bankable star because he never had his own live-action movie before? That seems like circular logic.
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