The Flash‘s woes didn’t start and stop with its theatrical run. The DCEU flick has made its way to Max, but it hasn’t been able to achieve particularly impressive numbers, as another DC box office bomb was able to outperform the Scarlet Speedster’s solo outing, if only by a thin margin.
Samba TV (via Deadline) reported that 1.1 million households watched The Flash after it became available for streaming in its first three days. While this is an impressive number, it pales in comparison to how other DC titles performed during the same period. It was reported that 2022’s Black Adam had a better streaming debut performance compared to the 2023 movie by 0.1 million households.
DC’s anti-hero movie starring Dwayne Johnson also fared better at the box office when compared to The Flash. Black Adam earned $67 million during its domestic opening, over $10 million more than The Flash, which earned $55 million domestically. The 2022 feature also outperformed the 2023 picture in terms of its worldwide box office earnings by over $100 million.
The Flash faced multiple issues leading up to its release. This DC superhero movie was originally scheduled for release in 2018, but was pushed to 2020 due to creative issues, and eventually landed on the 2023 release that we know today. The film also faced backlash after its lead star, Ezra Miller caught themselves in multiple controversies in 2022, who then apologized for their actions and revealed they were suffering from “complex mental health issues.” It was later criticized after DC decided to shelve or cancel multiple projects like Batgirl and Wonder Woman 3, but The Flash was left unscathed.
Prior to its release, James Gunn revealed The Flash would reset some things for the DCU, but not everything. If you want to catch up on how these events unfold, you can catch it on Max.