‘The Flash’ Opens Below ‘Black Adam’ While ‘Elemental’ Bombs at Box Office

thewrap.com:

“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. “The Flash,” which has been reported to be at the same budget level, was expected to do better given its mid-June release slot and other factors such as the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, which was seen as a potential selling point to Gen X and Millennial audiences.

Instead, audience reception is actually lower than what “Black Adam” received on its opening weekend, earning a B on CinemaScore and an early Rotten Tomatoes audience score of 85%, compared to a B+ and 89% for Dwayne Johnson’s film.

The news is even worse for Disney and Pixar’s new film “Elemental,” which industry estimates have opening to a terrible $28.5 million after grossing just $11.5 million from 4,035 theaters on its opening day.