The Ephemeral Flash
If you are a frequent reader of JV and follow the entertainment industry closely, you may have noticed the current strike causing havoc in Hollywood. This strike has raised concerns about the future direction of cinema. Interestingly, Steven Spielberg had warned about this industry-wide crisis more than a decade ago. In our previous article, we discussed his views on the matter. The studios’ excessive focus on superhero projects has saturated the genre, leaving audiences less surprised. The actress from the movie Shazam publicly admitted that her role felt insignificant and that she needed work. It seems that both actors and producers are out of sync nowadays. Spielberg’s words from 2013 are quite relevant:
Unfortunately, The Flash, which was expected to revive the DC universe, turned out to be a disaster. Despite having a budget of $220 million and being in development for years, the film directed by Andy Muschietti is expected to only make around $265 million at the box office. When taking into account additional expenses like promotional campaigns, marketing, and reshoots, this is a huge failure.
A Major Setback for Blue Beetle
If you thought The Flash was the only disappointment, think again. Blue Beetle, featuring Cobra Kai’s talented Xolo Mariduena, has also turned out to be a major flop. It not only became the lowest-grossing DCEU movie in the United States but also struggled to gain traction in France. With only 239,733 tickets sold, it performed much worse than The Flash (388,700) and even fell behind Shazam 2 (262,525). Clearly, it’s a challenging time for superhero movies…