The summer’s worst sequel cost $80 million less than ‘The Flash’ and will earn more in 12 days, which means we’re probably getting another one

It might sound harsh to use The Flash as the barometer of success that distinguishes between a success and a flop, but it’s hard not to when the movie touted as one of the greatest comic book adaptations in all of time and space landed with a dull thud after escaping a decade in development hell to go down as one of the biggest box office bombs of all-time.

By the time it limped out of theaters, the Scarlet Speedster’s long-awaited solo debut could only muster $268 million from theaters around the world, and it’s about to be passed by another effects-heavy extravaganza that’s statistically proven to be the worst blockbuster sequel 2023 has had to offer so far.

With a Rotten Tomatoes score of only 28 percent, Meg 2: The Trench is not a very good or particularly entertaining film, but it has already proven to be a highly successful one. Despite suffering a hefty drop-off on domestic shores, another robust weekend overseas has propelled Jason Statham’s giant shark adventure to a running tally of $257 million worldwide.

That means The Trench will have overtaken The Flash by this time on Tuesday at the very latest, and it even cost a hefty chunk of change less, with Ben Wheatley’s follow-up pegged at around $120 million. Seeing as a cumulative haul of $400 million isn’t entirely out of the question, you know what that means; Meg 3 has just taken a huge bite out of becoming a reality, and we’ve got nobody to blame but ourselves.