'The Flash' disappoints at the box office on debut

Warner Bros.' summer blockbuster hopeful The Flash saw a disappointing flicker at the box office in its opening weekend, with the the latest DCEU film missing relatively low targets.

Beleaguered by deeply underwhelmed reviews, low box office takings from previous DCEU releases Shazam! Fury of the Gods and Black Adam, and the many allegations against its lead Ezra Miller,The Flash made $55.1 million at the domestic box office over the weekend, releasing in 4,234 cinemas.

Despite the hotly anticipated return of Michael Keaton as Batman and co-CEO of DC Studios James Gunn calling it "probably one of the greatest superhero movies ever made,” The Flash was sitting on a B grade on CinemaScore and a 66 percent Rotten Tomatoes score from critics – though its audience score was considerably higher at 85 percent.

The Flash has little room to run, and there are many elements at play here, best described by Mashable film editor Kristy Puchko in her review:

"It's no secret that Warner Bros. has lost faith in the DCEU," she writes. "They cut off the Zack Snyderverse and installed James Gunn as co-CEO of DC Studios to reimagine the superhero IP. They killed Batgirl for a tax break. Their last two releases, Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, underwhelmed at the box office and with critics. And now the studio is hanging their summer hopes on The Flash, a solo film embattled by divided fans and the many allegations against and scandals surrounding star Ezra Miller."

The Flash wasn't the only big budget film to see lower box office figures in its debut weekend. Pixar's $200 million animated rom-com Elemental saw just $29.5 million in takings, released in 4,035 cinemas. As Variety points out, both The Flash and Elemental set relatively low box office targets: $70 million and $35 million, respectively.

Elemental, however, has received high praise from critics and audiences alike — it's sitting on an A grade on CinemaScore and a 76 percent critic and 92 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film goes far beyond its familiar Pixar marketing materials to a resonant, poignant story about the experiences of immigrant families, with a gorgeous love story interwoven throughout.

Credit: Disney / Pixar

"From its very first frame, Elemental positions itself as a movie about the immigrant experience, immediately setting itself apart from the criticism that it's 'Zootopia, but with elements,''" Mashable entertainment reporter Belen Edwards writes in her review,

"Director Peter Sohn drew on his own experience as a child of immigrants for the film, and it's in Ember's own personal dilemmas — in turn helped along by her budding relationship with Wade — that Elemental finds its heart."

There were two other newcomers to cinemas that did well, comparatively. Tim Story’s Black horror comedy The Blackening opened in just 1,775 cinemas and made $6 million, and Wes Anderson's latest Asteroid City opened in just six cinemas and made $790,000 — and that's before its full global release coming up on June 23.