Gatsby77

This. I was younger when I saw Temple of Doom in the theater - my mom & I actually stayed in our seats and watched it again (back-to-back). Despite that... it's not good. Like...at all.

Apples and hand grenades. The Forbes article notes that the supposed $94.5 extra Dr. Strange MoM cost was still a net production cost, after the UK tax breaks were deducted. The Guardians of the Galaxy supposed cost overruns were cancelled out by the tax breaks - hence net production cost for that film was still $200 million.

This. I once had a CGC 9.0 copy of Marvel Premiere # 1 and a CGC 9.6 copy. The difference was ridiculous - and palpable. Had for me to settle for 9.0 in any but literally the top 15-20 Bronze books right now (like, the top 10 most expensive and then say...10 super rare $.35 variants - where it's a matter of availability rather than cost). Like...I'd take an Iron Fist 14 $.35 variant in 5.5 where I wouldn't touch an All Star Western 10 or a Conan 1 in under 9.4.

I haven’t seen it. Is she actually in it or is it just a cameo that hints she’ll be back in a big way next film (like when we learned Letty was still alive)?

? This post proves my point. It was profitable garbage, but not profitable enough…and this screwed the Justice League’s prospects before that film was even released. # 8 domestic gross box office receipts for the year. # 13 in net profitability. Because…it sucked.

Gadot's also in a much stronger negotiating position than she was during the filming of WW 1984. She's proven herself in such non-Wonder Woman roles as Death on the Nile and Red Notice.

Made money... Despite a horrific "B" CinemaScore 69.1% 2nd weekend drop-off -- each of these goes to poor audience Word of Mouth Was critically reviled (29% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) Finished well outside the top 5 domestic grossers of the year Got stomped domestically by Deadpool People got fired because of this film.

This. Unfair expectations - that were hampered by ridiculously poor character choices and writing. Warner Bros. clearly expected it to clear $1 bn.+ - since the prior Superman solo film did a $650+ million -- and the previous two Batman outings had eachj cleared $1 bn.+ But the biggest proof that it didn't meet those expectations? (Again) That Warner Bros. hired Whedon not just to finish the first Justice League film, but also to lighten it up - intentionally diluting Snyder's (failed) vision depicted in BvS theatrical and make it more "fun" (like the Marvel films), hoping for a better result than they had with BvS (which grossed nearly $900 million theatrical - solid numbers by almost any measure). But no - the damage was done, and audiences just didn't show up for Justice League. Fool me once and all...

Apples to apples: The theatrical box office results, plus Poor critical results, plus Multiple movie cancellations speak for themselves. If Warner Bros was satisfied with the post-theatrical / total profits of these films, the Snyderverse would be alive and well today. And Ray Fisher and Henry Cavill and Gal Gadot and Dwayne Johnson and Ben Affleck and Joe Manganiello wouldn't be looking for new gigs. Not Ezra Miller, tho. We've got assurances they'll keep the role in the sequel.

And yet... Warner Bros. was so freaked out at the poor critical and commercial reception to BvS that they hired Joss Whedon to change direction and "lighten the tone" for Justice League Part One. And when that didn't work (because audiences, having been burned by BvS, simply didn't show up), they canceled multiple movies and Affleck dropped out of his solo Batman film and they were so paralyzed re. what to do with the Flash movie they delayed it for another 3 years (not counting pandemic delays).

Yes! That..right there. That's it. Well done, sir! I admit when movies are compostable_fertilizer, regardless of the studio. You'll never once see me defend Love and Thunder, or The Dark World, or Elektra, or Amazing Spider-Man 2, or Venom, or the last two X-Men movies. But you have spent years defending - and promoting - not only Justice League (recall...you literally saw it in the theater and came on here and rated it better than BvS) and BvS, but also the Snyderverse as a whole. Which is fine. Except when you ignore that critics and audiences have roundly - and repeatedly - rejected it. He only directed 2.5 films? Sure...doesn't change the fact that he was the architect of the DCEU - his cast, his vision, his plots, his visual aesthetic, his version of the characters. From a mopey depressed emo Superman to a twitchy, nervous Luthor to a too-young Barry Allen played for laughs, to a beefcake Aquaman who screams "Boo-yah" as a war cry (although that may have been Whedon, not Snyder). It comes down to you (and 3-4 others) actively ignoring reality - that these are bad movies.

Man...this is getting dragged on Reddit:

“31st MCU franchise film?” You mean an Ant-Man movie vs. a film starring Batman & Superman that also brings Wonder Woman to the screen for the first time? Ant-Man?

This chart speaks for itself. You know that BvS isn't in the same league as any of those films in terms of studio budget, expectation or importance. And if you have to trot out Steel and Jonah Hex to prove it wasn't technically the "worst drop-off", well...

Put another way...math is math. If BvS wasn't such a steaming pile of poo, it wouldn't have fallen off a cliff after opening weekend and Justice League wouldn't have opened fully $70+ million lower - thus directly leading to the cancellation of at least 3 DCEU films.

Sigh... Man of Steel didn't perform well enough (i.e, gross anywhere close to The Dark Knight Rises) to go directly to a Man of Steel 2, so they switched gears to BvS. And MoS was an okay movie - oh, except for Zack Snyder and company demonstrating they fundamentally misunderstood the character of Superman. BvS was a flash in the pan, opening strongly, but dropping like a rock in its 2nd weekend (what was it? - 69+%)? Therefore setting a record for major comic book films by ultimately hitting a domestic gross less than 2x its opening weekend. Most importantly - the strong opening weekend masked BvS's true failure - that it sucked so horribly audiences didn't care to even show up for Justice League Part 1. Why? Because box offices like this are lagging indicators. See also: The Matrix Revolutions - it bombed precisely because audiences hated The Matrix Reloaded -- despite that film's *okay* performance, the third film grossed less than half the second's domestically. Thus, Justice League (ahem! Josstice League)'s failure (opening to just $93 million domestic) was a lagging indicator - a direct result - of audience's allergic reaction to BvS. Yes - Aquaman and Wonder Woman did well. But apples to apples -- only theatrical box office matters - and on that score, audiences (and critics) have solidly rejected Zack Snyder's vision nearly every step of the way - but mostly via the critical and box office drubbings of BvS, Justice League, and (now) The Flash. AND your chart above is woefully incomplete - because it ignores the list of canceled projects that were hinted at, announced or promised along the way, like: Man of Steel 2 Justice League Part 2 Cyborg Deathstroke The Trench Batgirl I'm betting we can now add The Flash 2 to that list. As smarter folks than I have pointed out, "It's telling that in the press Gunn has been touting Andres Muschietti's role in developing The Brave & the Bold, and not The Flash 2" (and that's *before* this weekend's box office made Black Adam look good). Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe in 2026 we can all get together, pop a beer and watch an incredible triple feature of New Gods, The Flash 2 and The Authority.

Maybe…I mean how many times do audiences need to show they’ve blatantly rejected the Snyderverse? I, for one, am excited to get blitzed drunk and watch The Flash, but have zero desire to see Blue Beetle or Aquaman 2 in the theater.

Variety’s now calling this at $55 million for the opening weekend, ~18% below Black Adam’s domestic debut.

Haven't seen the film yet, but... I honestly wonder why the studio didn't believe a solid Flash movie could be told on it's own, a la Man of Steel, Wonder Woman or Aquaman. To recast this as "Super Friends" slights a major superhero - with a solid rogue's gallery and hundreds of stories to choose from - implying he couldn't carry his own movie. I love the Flash - if he's proven he can carry his own TV show for 9 seasons, he could certainly carry his own film (or 3), without relying on other members of the Justice League or on multiverse time travel shenanigans.

Written by Greg Rucka.

Thank goodness they’ve already scripted the sequel (you know…given the writers strike and all).

I guess it’s hard when early reviews lauding this film as possibly DC’s best since The Dark Knight collide with reality.

So…BvS quality? I refuse to believe it. First, because that would take true skill. Second, because the RT critics score for The Flash is more than double that of BvS (~35 points higher.)

Yeah - the pre-release projection was $70M over 3 days.

Or... It could be that the movie... Just...isn't...very...good.