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.
Ezra Miller stars in “The Flash,” which took in $139 million globally, including a disappointing $55 million debut in North America. The film, which was directed by Andy Muschietti and begins asMiller’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, cost $200 million. It’ll struggle to turn a profit in its theatrical run unless its fortunes greatly rebound in the coming weeks.
“Elemental” faces an even bleaker road ahead. The family-friendly film opened to $15 million from just 17 international markets, bringing its global tally to a disastrous $44.5 million. In a note to press, Disney mentioned that “Elemental” launched in far fewer markets and that only three of the countries it has launched in — China ($5.2 million), Korea ($3.2 million) and Australia ($1.1 million) — are significant in terms of box office contributions. Elsewhere, the movie is rolling out on a staggered basis to “take advantage of local holidays.”
At the domestic box office, “Elemental” flopped with $25.9 million, landing by far the worst start in Pixar’s history. Like “The Flash,” “Elemental” also cost $200 million to produce and roughly $100 million to promote. Audiences (at least, those who showed up on opening weekend) were receptive to the film, but Disney needs “Elemental” to defy the odds — and then some — to justify those price tags.
Elsewhere, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” remained strong as worldwide ticket sales near the $500 million mark. The animated sequel added $27.6 million from 60 overseas markets over the weekend, bringing its international tally to $209 million and its global total to $489.3 million.
