Starring Ezra Miller in the titular role, Warner and DC’s The Flash looks to gross $58 million to $60 million for the three-day weekend and $70 million or less for the four days.

The superhero tentpole had hoped for a three-day start of at least $70 million so as to come in ahead of such DC titles as Black Adam, which collected $67 million in its first three days.

The Flash earned $24.5 million on Friday, including $9.7 million in previews.

Mixed Reviews

The studio’s leadership has been hyping The Flash for months. Unfortunately, the movie got mixed reviews:  It currently has 67 percent Tomatometer score on Rotten Tomatoes. A bigger problem: Audiences gave the movie a mediocre B CinemaScore (as a way of comparison, Elemental received an A).

While superhero fare often skews heavily male, The Flash is even more so than usual so far, or 73 percent.

Experts believe that Ezra Miller’s off-screen woes are impacting the film’s performance. Miller was arrested multiple times in 2022 and was the subject of several controversies, culminating in the actor apologizing for their behavior and saying they would receive help for “complex mental health issues.”

Miller walked the red carpet at the movie’s premiere but has otherwise been absent from doing publicity for The Flash.

In the Andy Muschietti-directed film, Miller stars in dual roles as alternate-timeline versions of heroic speedster Barry Allen, with Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck making splashy returns in their respective Batman roles (in Keaton’s case, it’s a character he hasn’t played since 1991).

DC was counting heavily on The Flash to improve its standing after the tepid showing of Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Black Adam.

The hope now is that Elemental will parlay its A CinemaScore into long legs at the box office.

Directed by Peter Sohn (The Good Dinosaur), Elemental is set in a place, where fire, water, land and air residents live together. The film’s themes include connection, celebrating differences and finding one’s place in the world.

The story follows Ember (Leah Lewis), a tough, quick-witted and fiery young woman whose friendship with a sappy, go-with-the-flow guy named Wade (Mamoudou Athie) challenges her beliefs about the world they live in, where “elements don’t mix.”

Also from Cannes Fest, Asteroid City is launching in six theaters in New York and Los Angeles. The Focus Features movie is expected to post a three-day per-theater average of $120,403, the best showing at the specialty box office since Parasite in 2019. The estimated location average for the four days is $134,411