π¦ΈββοΈβ‘ ‘The Flash’ Stumbles with a ‘Meh’ $55M Kickoff, While ‘Elemental’ Fizzles at $29.5M – What’s up, Box Office? π¬πΈ
TL;DR: π₯± ‘The Flash’ and ‘Elemental’ β two highly anticipated flicks β have landed in the box office with a thud, not a bang. While ‘The Flash’ raked in an underwhelming $55M in its opening, ‘Elemental’ belly-flopped with just $29.5M, making it Pixar’s worst start ever. It’s a plot twist no one saw coming, and the Box Office cliffhanger continues, leaving us wondering: Have moviegoers’ tastes shifted? π€π
The superhero race doesn’t always mean soaring over tall buildings or outrunning a speeding bullet β sometimes, it’s about outpacing the Friday to Sunday Box Office gross. Sadly, ‘The Flash’ seemed more like ‘The Trickle’, snagging just $55M over its 3-day/$64M 4-day opening weekend, and Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ barely conjured up a spark with a $29.5M 3-day/$33M 4-day start. So, what’s the deal? Have our heroes lost their shine? Or is the audience just holding out for streaming? π€·ββοΈπΏ
To add salt to the wound, these two titans of entertainment have been lagging behind ‘Black Adam’, a DC film that opened to $67M domestic and $140M worldwide last fall, a score that ‘The Flash’ was hyped to surpass. But just like Usain Bolt watching a sloth, it didn’t quite work out that way. Now, there’s a question that might just keep Warner Bros./DC’s executives up at night: Is the superhero franchise falling out of favor? π§π
Meanwhile, at Pixar, the hangover from ‘Elemental’s’ low turnout continues to throb. Itβs left with the ignominious record of being the studioβs poorest opening after inflation adjustment, except for βToy Storyβ back in ’95. Remember when Woody and Buzz were the hottest new toys? Times change, huh? And it leaves us questioning whether families are now just opting to chill on the couch and wait for films to hit streaming. Is the theater no longer the coolest hangout spot? πΏπ
With Sony Animationβs ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ continuing to pull in the numbers and Paramount’s ‘Transformers: Rise of the Beasts’ going extinct at the box office, it’s clear the battle for moviegoers’ hearts (and wallets) is fierce. And let’s not forget the dark horse, Lionsgateβs horror-comedy ‘The Blackening’, ticking pre-release projections with a 4-day $7M opening from 1,775 theaters. Is this the era of the underdog? πΆπ
In the final act of this movie marathon, Wes Andersonβs ‘Asteroid City’ delivered a star performance, earning an estimated $790,000 over three days from six theaters in New York and Los Angeles. But with plans to expand to approximately 1,500 theaters next weekend, it leaves us wondering: will the big crowds dim the glow of this shooting star? π π«
In a plot twist fit for the silver screen, we’re left with more questions than answers. Have the mighty heroes finally met their kryptonite in the form of changing audience tastes? And will the box office continue to