It looks like the public has chosen their favorite superhero of the moment and it’s not The Flash. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has crawled its way back to the #1 spot after previously being dethroned, first by Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and then kept out by The Flash. As those are proving to be duds and are rapidly falling, that allowed Across the Spider-Verse, which has been overwhelmingly well received, to hang in. Earning $19.3 million, the Sony animated picture came out on top, bringing its total to $317.1M.
But there is also good news for an animated movie that was also deemed a dud last weekend — Elemental. That film dropped only 37%. Now granted, it didn’t make that much, to begin with, opening to $29.5M, but this stronghold could indicate that this flick will have legs as the weeks go on and before it goes to streaming on Disney+.
This weekend, Elemental generated an additional $18.5M.
However, despite a decent reception, The Flash is plummeting fast, as fans have turned their backs on the DCEU. After a disappointing $55.27M three-day opening, this latest comic book entry plunged 72% to $15.3M in its sophomore frame. That’s the biggest second-weekend drop for any DC movie, worse than Shazam!: Fury of the Gods. Ouch! This does not bode well for the last two DCEU releases, Blue Beetle and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.
At the very least, The Flash managed to take the third slot, barely edging out the new Jennifer Lawrence-starring raunchy comedy No Hard Feelings, but that was a much lower budget and low-stakes movie. Its $15.1M opening is actually very strong for a release like this.
Critics aren’t impressed with No Hard Feelings. Its Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer is at a lukewarm 68%, but its certified audience score is a much heftier 88%. Via PostTrak, exiting audiences gave it four stars.
The #5 spot belongs to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, which continues to plummet and will likely fall out of the Top Five next week with the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. Like The Flash, this is just part of a franchise that audiences have turned their backs on. It doesn’t appear that anyone cares that this is a sort of reboot. Transformers is Transformers, and the masses don’t want it.
Back to The Flash, this also doesn’t bode well for Peter Safran and James Gunn’s plans to reboot the DC Universe. What if the public feels DC is DC, and they don’t want that either? That could be catastrophic for Warner Bros.
Check out the Top Five below:
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- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony) – $19.3M / Total: $316.75M / Wk 4
- Elemental (Disney) – $18.5M / Total: $65.5M / Wk 2
- The Flash (Warner Bros.) – $15.3M / Total $87.5M / Wk 2
- No Hard Feelings (Sony) – $15.1M / Wk 1
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (Paramount) – $11.6M / Total: $123M / Wk 3
Next week should belong to Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, although it is not expected to be the runaway smash that Disney had hoped. Expect it to open in the $50M range. It could overperform if older moviegoers turn out the way they did for Top Gun: Maverick last year.
Did you head to the multiplex this weekend? Will you be turning out next weekend?
