By Last weekend was not a good time to release big tentpole films. Both Warner Bros. and Disney learned that lesson the hard way with both The Flash and Elemental failing to ignite much interest from audiences. The Flash took top honors, coming in number one domestically with a gross of $55 million, but that is a surprisingly tepid amount for the ultra-hyped superhero crossover. When factoring in international gross, the film did do pretty decently with around $139 million, but on the back of a budget that is reportedly $200+ million, The Flash has essentially bombed.
Elemental, on the other hand, fared a lot worse. With roughly the same budget as The Flash, Pixar’s latest feature film generated $29.5 million domestically and only accumulated $48.3 million worldwide. Whether that’s because Disney’s own in-house 3D animation has finally eaten into Pixar’s pie or audiences are too trained to wait for Disney+ is unknown. What we can say is that general audiences simply do not care.
Elsewhere in the box office, it’s roughly what you’d expect for films that are a few weeks old now. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse took another impressive $27.8 million for its third weekend. Transformers: Rise of the Beasts pulled $20 million, though its international performance has been dire. The Little Mermaid is faring better, but an extra $11.6 million isn’t likely to help make the film profitable. New horror film The Blackening managed to grab $6 million, which is really impressive for such a niche genre.
Here is the breakdown of the top 10 this past weekend (June 16 – 18, 2023):
- The Flash – $55.1 million
- Elemental – $29.5 million
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – $27.8 million
- Transformers: Rise of the Beasts – $20 million
- The Little Mermaid – $11.6 million
- The Blackening – $6 million
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – $5 million
- The Boogeyman – $3.8 million
- Fast X – $2 million
- Asteroid City – $790,000
