Box Office: ‘The Flash’ Paces Itself With $24.5 Million Opening Day, Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ Doesn’t Catch Fire

Warner Bros’ CineEurope show here in Barcelona was a starry, jam-packed affair featuring Zendaya and Timothée Chalamet who talked up Dune: Part Two, as well as their respective upcoming titles Challengers and Wonka. The proceedings kicked off with a pre-taped intro video featuring President of International Theatrical Distribution Andrew Cripps zipping along the 405 in the Barbie car, and with Margot Robbie putting in an appearance. Helen Mirren, who narrates Barbie, also narrated the presentation in a voice over.

Warner Bros. Discovery is reportedly in talks to license HBO shows to Netflix.

You’d be hard-pressed to find a CEO in the film and TV industry to have such an immediate impact as David Zaslav over at Warner Bros. Discovery.

The Batman spinoff series The Penguin has been given an adult rating.The Max crime drama series, which is expected to premiere in 2024, stars Colin Farrell as the titular character (aka Oswald Cobblepot), Gotham City’s crime kingpin and one of Batman’s key enemies. The series will pick up after the events of The Batman.According to LADbible, the Motion Picture Association (MPA) has given the upcoming DC miniseries an R-rating.

Peter Caranicas Deputy Editor Studio operator Shawn Papazian is set to lead the development and operation of The Fields Studios, Chicago’s newly minted studio and soundstage complex. The announcement was made by real estate developer and The Fields Studios owner Knickpoint Ventures, which appointed Papazian as its newest partner to oversee all of its studio-related activities. The Fields Studios, launched last month, is set to start filming operations in the first quarter of 2024. Papazian has been involved with the design, development, operations and management of motion picture and television studio facilities for over 25 years.

Jordan Moreau In a turnaround for the streaming wars, Warner Bros. Discovery is in negotiations to license a package of library HBO titles to Netflix. If a deal were to go through, it would cement the sea-change in content distribution strategy afoot at Warner Bros. Discovery under the David Zaslav regime. HBO has licensed library content in the past — a deal with Netflix would not be groundbreaking per se, but it is notable in the era of pitched competition among the largest media companies to build direct-to-consumer streaming platforms. Netflix, the upstart outsider from Los Gatos, has been the pace car for television’s transition over the past decade.

Adam B. Vary Senior Entertainment Writer SPOILER ALERT: This story mentions a few significant plot developments in “The Flash,” currently playing in theaters. In the climax of “The Flash,” Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) watches helplessly as his timeline-hopping escapades cause several other superhero universes to careen into each other and become obliterated in the process. Ironically, Warner Bros. is facing almost an identical dilemma — and the stakes could be nearly as existential. “The Flash” is the second of four mega-budgeted DC adaptations the studio is set to release this year, starting with “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” in March, and followed by “Blue Beetle” and “Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom” in August and December. Yet these movies were conceived and greenlit by an executive team that all have departed the studio; in their place, new DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran have announced they will reboot the DC franchise in 2025, starting with Gunn’s “Superman: Legacy.”

As James Gunn and Peter Safran take the DC Universe in a new direction and casting is underway for Superman: Legacy, speculation for who the next Batman in The Brave and the Bold has grown.

cinematic universe, no character is ever gone for good!Fans of the high-octane franchise have learned that lesson time and again as our favorite heroes return — the #JusticeForHan hashtag was avenged when Sun Kang's character returned in  and our favorite villains switch sides to join the good guys. (Remember when Dwayne Johnson's Luke Hobbs was the antagonist of )Fast X, the latest installment, directed by Louis Leterrier, brought back not one, but two thrilling characters to the franchise, with Hobbs appearing in a post-credits scene — launching a Johnson-led standalone film that will fit into the timeline between and But the biggest shocker of all came in the film's final moments.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Once upon a time in New York City, the three shopping havens for those in the know were referred to, in the words of Blair Waldorf, “the three B’s”: Bendel’s, Barneys and Bloomingdale’s. Bendel’s shuttered after 123 years in 2018. Next came the Hollywood-adored Barney’s, who closed its doors in 2020. Now, the last old-school, luxury retailer standing is Bloomingdale’s — and one more bold-faced “B” to revel in its glory: Barbie. In honor of Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” which releases July 21, Bloomingdale’s decided to go all out in celebrating Mattel’s iconic plastic doll, who we can only assume would be a loyal Bloomies customer if she ever manages to escape Barbie World. On June 20, the retailer announced a series of Barbie-themed exclusive products, collaborations and pop-up shops ahead of the film’s anticipated release on July 21.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director Michael Shannon revealed in a recent interview with Empire magazine (via Insider) that he turned down a role in the “Star Wars” franchise due to his overall wariness over big Hollywood franchise movies. Shannon did not reveal the role, but he said his reason for rejecting came down to him being “a bit wary about those giant movies” because they “take a lot of time and I don’t find them very stimulating to work on.” “I don’t ever want to get stuck in a franchise,” Shannon said. “I don’t find them interesting and I don’t want to perpetuate them. If I’m making something, I want there to be some kind of purpose to it — I don’t want to make mindless entertainment. The world doesn’t need more mindless entertainment. We’re inundated with it.”

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ superhero film “The Flash” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £4.2 million ($5.4 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. In second place, in its third weekend, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse” swung to £2.6 million for a total of £20.3 million. In third position in its fourth weekend, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” earned £1.3 million and now has a splashy £22 million total. Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise Of The Beasts” collected £1.1 million in fourth place in its second weekend for a total of £4.99 million. Elysian’s “Greatest Days” debuted in fifth position with £536,955.

Tom Cruise has promised to “fight for big theaters” and preserve cinema culture while at the world premiere of Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part 1.While at the Spanish Steps in Rome, Cruise delivered a passionate speech about films, acting and working with film director Christopher McQuarrie, per Variety. Cruise said during his speech: “There is a community that we are all part of — different cultures and ways of life, we all join together to enjoy cinema.

Tim Chan If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission. Fans of The Flash can add now another title to their collection.

Dwayne Johnson reflected on his tough relationship with his late dad Rocky in an emotional Father’s Day video on Sunday.

Spoiler alert: The following article contains “The Flash” spoilers.

**Spoilers for “The Flash” below. You’ve been warned…** After years of delays (including multiple filmmakers coming and going, as well as a global pandemic), Warner Bros.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent ANNECY — Bathed by gorgeous sun, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival and MIFA market came of age as a major industry and artistic event last week at the fairy-tale looking town nestling in the laps of the French Alps.  Takeaways from this year’s extraordinary edition, which ran June 11-17: Annecy Blasts Attendance Records The Annecy Festival and MIFA market smashed prior attendance figures to smithereens, recording 15,820 accreditations, 20% up on last year’s then all-time record of 13,200. That reflects “the extraordinary dynamism of the animation industry; more and more countries producing: our support of a lot of talents in emerging countries who want to come, of course; the [year-round outreach] in terms of meetings, and the official selection,” Mickaël Marin, CEO of the Festival and MIFA organizer CITIA, told Variety. “The festival was a great success, in its record numbers of attendance, exhibition booths and companies and dynamism and sensation of an extraordinary energy,” agrees Olivier Lelardoux, Blue Spirit Studio.  

DC and Warner Bros.’ long-in-the-works superhero movie “The Flash” opened to $55 million in its first three days in North American theatres, according to studio estimates on Sunday.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros. Discovery has announced three new Thai HBO Asia Originals: action-fantasy blockbuster “Khun Pan 3”; fun-filled cooking series “MarkKim + Chef” and reality series “Deane’s Dynasty.” The shows will be available exclusively to HBO and HBO GO in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Thai TV content is currently growing in popularity among Asian TV audiences and has recently been seen pioneering soft homo-erotic series known as the ‘Boys Love’ genre, that has appeal to mature female audiences. BL is conspicuously absent from the new additions to the HBO Go slate.  “Khun Pan 3” is the final instalment of the “Khun Pan” franchise and represents a journey from 1950 after World War ll, as sorcerer cop Khun Pan is persuaded to take on another dangerous mission. This time he is hunting down two bandits and uncovering a conspiracy that challenges everything, he believes in. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Warner Bros.’s “The Flash” and Disney/Pixar’s “Elemental” made theatrical debuts in China that were in line with their soft starts in North America and other international territories. “The Flash” captured the top spot in China with a $13.4 million (RMB94.8 million) opening weekend ($13.8 million including previews), according to data from consultancy Artisan Gateway. It deposed “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” which opened a week earlier and which slipped to second place in its sophomore frame. “Transformers” took a 69% fall and recorded $12.4 million between Friday and Sunday in China. That produces a $61.7 million cumulative after ten days in Chinese theaters.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter After struggling at the domestic box office, this weekend’s two major releases — the Warner Bros. superhero adaptation “The Flash” and Disney’s Pixar adventure “Elemental” — failed to catch fire with international audiences. “The Flash” pulled in $75 million in its international box office debut, which doesn’t sound all that bad… except when considering the movie is available in 78 overseas markets. That means it failed to hit $1 million in the vast majority of the territories in play. China led the way with a lackluster $13.8 million, followed by Mexico with $9.4 million, the United Kingdom with $5.3 million, Korea with $3.7 million and Brazil with $3.5 million.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/DC’s The Flash sped into 78 overseas markets this weekend, grossing $75M, below the $85M-$95M we saw coming into the frame. With domestic’s slow-crawl three-day included, that makes for a $139M global opening. This is lower than projections, with general audiences not rushing out to see the deeper universe pic.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Flash,” a superhero adventure starring Ezra Miller, emerged victorious over Pixar’s “Elemental” in a battle of the box office lightweights. This weekend’s two new releases were once expected to ignite the summer box office but instead entirely missed the mark, as “The Flash” stumbled with $55 million and “Elemental” collected just $29.5 million in their respective debuts. Both of those films fell short of already-low expectations. And worse, they were pricy endeavors, costing $200 million to make and roughly $100 million to market, so they are shaping up to be huge disappointments in their theatrical runs. In the lead-up to “The Flash,” executives at Warner Bros. worked hard to convince the public that the film is “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” Directed by Andy Muschietti, the story picks up as Miller’s Barry Allen a.k.a The Flash travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder and inadvertently cracks open the DC multiverse. (Cameos abound!) But its tepid “B” CinemaScore from opening weekend crowds suggests that the moviegoing masses didn’t entirely agree with the lavish praise bestowed on the film by the people who made it. Without positive audience scores or strong word-of-mouth, “The Flash” will struggle to rebound in the coming weeks, especially as summer season heats up with the release of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” on June 30, “Mission: Impossible 7” on July 12 and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” on July 21.

Zack Snyder took the stage at Netflix’s Tudum global fan event in Brazil where he gave a sneak peek at Rebel Moon. Watch the featurette in the video above.

When filmmaker Zack Snyder (“Man of Steel“) started a working relationship with Netflix, starting with “Army of The Dead,” it was obvious that he was looking to have the streamer bankroll a bunch of his passion projects that other studios weren’t interested in. One of those projects was a “Star Wars” film pitch to Lucasfilm/Disney that was an attempt to make a Jedi-focused standalone film directly influenced by Akira Kurosawa‘s iconic samurai epic “The Seven Samurai.” Lucasfilm had passed on the idea and that led Snyder to repackage the project as an original with the blessing/financing from Netflix, giving us “Rebel Moon.” READ MORE: ‘Rebel Moon’: Zack Snyder Teases 2 Versions Of His New Sci-Fi Film With Separate Cuts Aimed At General Audiences & Adults Only Netflix’s big promotional event, Tudum, is underway this weekend where they showed new footage from “Rebel Moon” including a featurette video (See below).

a fond farewell to the so-called SnyderVerse, Netflix is sharing a behind-the-scenes look at Snyder’s latest fantasy epic. “Rebel Moon,” which will (as of this time) be a two-part film that will be offered in a PG-13 version and an R-rated cut, takes significant inspiration from one of Snyder’s favorite films, “The Seven Samurai.”  The logline reads “In a universe controlled by the corrupt government of the Mother World, the moon of Veldt is threatened by the forces of the Imperium, the army of the Mother World controlled by Regent Balisarius.

Joe Goldberg himself (aka Penn Badgley) is giving us a glimpse of what’s to come in the upcoming fifth and final season of Netflix thriller series You, from Warner Bros. Television and studio-based Berlanti Prods.

“The Flash,” the long-in-the-works standalone superhero film that DC co-chief James Gunn called “one of the best superhero movies I’ve seen.” Starring Ezra Miller, the film brings together multiple DC worlds as The Flash races into the multiverse to change the past, crossing paths with Michael Keaton’s Batman from the Tim Burton films, a brand new Supergirl (played by Sasha Calle) and plenty more courtesy of some major cameos and surprises.Right now, “The Flash” is playing exclusively in theaters. But you may be wondering, when is “The Flash” movie streaming on Max? All your questions answered below.The film was released exclusively in theaters on June 16.Like all Warner Bros.

The Flash (★★★☆☆), look no further than IMDb, which has listed every single (uncredited) appearance on the movie’s full cast list. Some cameos are clever, while others are slightly creepy –- yet another example of CGI eerily resurrecting the dead.

“The Flash,” which is opening below expectations with an estimated $70 million 4-day opening weekend after grossing $24.5 million from 4,234 theaters on Friday.Industry estimates have the 3-day opening for “Flash” at $61 million, which would be identical to what Paramount’s “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” opened to last weekend. But both figures are below the $67 million 3-day/$71.5 million 4-day opening earned last fall by fellow DC film “Black Adam,” which ended up grossing only $393 million worldwide against a $200 million-plus production budget before marketing.

There are a lot of lessons to be learned this weekend, but chief among them, is what’s it like for a major motion picture studio to open a movie with largely a number of its cast, primarily its main star, not available to do press. That’s the big looming question which has been on everyone’s minds in the wake of Ezra Miller’s tabloid laden 2020-2022 in regards to Warner Bros. DC’s $200M The Flash, which isn’t looking good with a 3-day around $60M, off from the $70M-$75M the studio was expecting. The studio is still expecting the Juneteenth holiday to deliver and get the film to $70M over 4-days (if that’s the case, that’s the first time the Federal holiday, which has not proven itself to be a big moviegoing day yet, has yielded a daily gross for a movie north of $10M; last year Universal’s Jurassic World: Dominion made only $8.6M on the Juneteenth Monday holiday). The pic did $24.5M yesterday (which includes Thursday previews). Other studios see these figures lower. Given the $9.7M previews last night, at a glance, it looked like Flash had the potential to over-deliver and beat its weekend estimates, and that’s looking less likely now. Should the movie have gone straight to Warners streaming service Max? Absolutely not. They need to make as much money as they can, and that’s through windows.

Miller’s well-documented antics in the months following filming — it was the first time the actor had been seen in public in almost a year.Sporting a white suit jacket with black detailing and long wavy hair with a topknot and braids, Miller told “Flash” director Andy Muschietti on the red carpet: “I love you, maestro. I think you are amazing, and I think your work is monumental.”It was the actor’s first public comments since a raft of stories last year about erratic behavior in Hawaii and Iceland as well as their home in Vermont.Miller, who uses them/they pronouns, has been holed up at their Vermont farm for the past year while undergoing outpatient mental health treatment, their publicist told The Post.“The Flash” has gotten good-to-mixed reviews, with The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski calling it “good fun” and raving that Miller “is DC’s much-needed answer to Tom Holland’s embraceable Spider-Man.”Meanwhile, Twitter was awash with criticism of the actor this week, calling Miller an “abuser” and a “groomer,” but their rep said Miller is getting real help and is recovering.“This is not a publicity thing,” the rep said.

Christopher Vourlias Amid turbulent times for global streaming services who continue to course correct after years of pursuing subscriber growth at all costs, TV writers and producers in Eastern Europe are pondering the next step for a region still searching for its first international breakout hit. “The biggest challenge is the great Netflix correction — the recalibration, the reassessment of dollars,” Ioanina Pavel, who served as creative producer on the HBO Max original series “Spy/Master,” said Friday at the Transilvania Film Festival. “It’s not a bad thing, but it is a challenge. There’s been a glut. The Golden Age of TV is now coming to a close. It’s not a bad thing; it just means a reallocation of money.”

Jordan Moreau Warner Bros. and DC Studios’ tentpole summer release, “The Flash,” finally hits theaters this weekend, but the superhero movie had been beset by delays and off-screen controversies involving star Ezra Miller in the years before its release. “The Flash” was initially revealed back in October 2014 as part of the inaugural DC Universe slate. It received a 2018 release date, alongside eventual releases like “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Suicide Squad,” “Wonder Woman,” “Aquaman” and “Shazam.” However, parts of that plan didn’t come to fruition. Standalone “Cyborg” and “Green Lantern” movies were scrapped, and a two-part “Justice League” movie by Zack Snyder became one film.

The Flash” has finally arrived.After several attempts (this iteration of the character has been brewing since at least 2013) and substantial controversy, the scarlet speedster has arrived in theaters with an accompanying whirlwind of both excitement and hesitation. Borrowing loosely from the event comic series “Flashpoint,” “The Flash” stars Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, a crime lab technician and superhero (or “metahuman” in DC speak) who decides to go back in time and prevent his mother’s murder (and his father’s arrest for said murder) but winds up being knocked out of his timeline and into an alternate reality that is very, very wrong.