‘The Flash’ Stumbles at International Box Office With $75 Million, Pixar’s ‘Elemental’ Crashes With $15 Million Overseas

Naman Ramachandran Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £7.1 million ($9 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The release marked the fifth biggest opening weekend for a film in 2023 in the territory, including previews, with a market share of 43%. In its fifth weekend, Sony’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” racked up a further £1.5 million in second place, taking its total to £25.9 million. Universal’s “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” debuted in third position with £885,056. In its sixth weekend, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid” earned £837,859 in fourth place for a total of £25 million.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” is stumbling in its box office debut, generating $70 million internationally and $130 million globally to start. Those ticket sales wouldn’t be bad for a film aimed at older audiences, except for the fact that Disney and Lucasfilm spent $295 million before marketing to bring the fifth and final action-adventure, starring Harrison Ford, to the big screen. “Dial of Destiny” is posting similar numbers to Warner Bros. and DC’s misfire “The Flash,” which opened to $75 million internationally and $139 million globally but cost $100 million less to make. Both tentpoles are expected to lose money in their theatrical runs.

Refresh for latest…: Disney/Lucasfilm’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is off to a disappointing start with a $130M global opening. Of that, $70M is from 52 international box office markets as the the fifth installment in the beloved 42-year-old franchise came in below projections.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Disney’s “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” lassoed the top spot on domestic box office charts, collecting an underwhelming $60 million in its opening weekend. That’s a decent amount of money for a tentpole that’s aimed at older audiences, but “Indiana Jones 5,” one of the most expensive movies ever, cost $295 million before marketing. It’ll take a heroic feat, one that would test even an enduring legend like Indiana Jones, for the fifth installment in the decades-old franchise to become profitable in its theatrical run. It was a disappointing weekend at the box office as “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken,” a $70 million-budgeted family film from DreamWorks and Universal, cratered in its sixth-place debut with $5.2 million. In addition to “Dial of Destiny” and “Ruby Gillman,” the DC superhero adventure “The Flash” tumbled to the No. 8 spot in its third weekend of release with $5 million, another embarrassing 67% drop. It has yet to cross $100 million domestically, with ticket sales at $99.2 million to date.

Apple TV+ has unveiled a sneak peek of the highly anticipated third season of “The Morning Show,” featuring Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Egyptian comedy “Beit El Ruby,” about social media’s disruptive impact on the life of a quirky family, has scored a strong opening weekend in Saudi Arabia, ousting “The Flash,” in its second frame, from the top spot. The local farce led by Egyptian superstars Karim Abel Aziz and Kareem Mahmoud Abdel Aziz was released on June 22. It has scored roughly 73,000 admissions across Saudi Arabia, grossing more than $1.1 million in its first frame. “The Flash,” by contrast, garnered a combined total of 91,000 admissions in Saudi cinemas in its first two frames. According to the film’s co-distributor Front Row Arabia, the “Beit El Ruby” bow marks the fifth highest opening for an Arabic film in Saudi, which is the Middle East’s top theatrical movie market.

Refresh for latest...: After two major studio movies bowed last weekend, this session was one of holdovers for Hollywood with mixed results.

interview this past spring, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland told TheWrap that SAG-AFTRA’s leaders believe it could benefit actors if properly regulated so that performances and likenesses can’t be used without proper compensation and consent.If talks aren’t successful, SAG-AFTRA could end up joining WGA in a strike; members voted to authorize a strike ahead of contract talks earlier this month by an overwhelming 97%. If that happens, studios will face a strike by two separate guilds at once for the first time since 1960, when a double strike held by writers and actors led to the establishment of residuals for TV reruns.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent The Filming ItalySardegna Festival that kicks off Italy’s summer moviegoing season will play a prominent role in the ongoing push to lure Italians back into movie theaters, just as the country’s box office is starting to gain traction.    A robust roster of talents from Hollywood and Italy and a solid lineup of premieres are booked for this event, which combines film and TV and unspools June 22-25 in the Forte Village resort near Cagliari, capital of Sardegna (Sardinia in English). The fest is set to take place just as the Italian government starts to invest €20 million ($22 million) to promote moviegoing through a campaign called Cinema Revolution, under which cinema tickets will be half-price for a limited time. 

“The Flash” continues to do brisk business at the box office.

EastEnders star Heather Peace plays the role of Eve Unwin who arrived on Albert Square as the new wife of Stacey Slater played by Lacey Turner. Heather, 47, who originally hails from Bradford, joined the cast of Eastenders in October 2021 and her character has entertained viewers ever since Just recently Eve has sent soap fans into a frenzy as she continues her secret affair with Suki Panesar. But their blossoming romance could soon be revealed to the whole of Walford as the shopkeeper’s son Vinny uncovers their secret.

Gogglebox has just become that much more star-studded with the additions of Adam Lambert and Beverley Knight. The new series of the Channel 4 programme has seen several new faces join the line-up, including the likes of comedian Katherine Ryan, singer Tom Grennan and singer Jane McDonald. It provides viewers with a fascinating look into the living rooms of some of their favourite celebrities while answering some very important questions… What are their hot beverages of choice? What kind of biscuit is their fave? You know, the real head scratchers.

Elemental is unfortunately not burning up at the box office.

Naman Ramachandran “Adipurush,” director Om Raut’s retelling of Indian mythological epic “Ramayana,” emerged the fifth highest box office earner in the world in its opening weekend, despite some mixed reviews at home. The film, which stars Prabhas (the Baahubali franchise), Kriti Sanon (“Bhediya”) and Saif Ali Khan (“Vikram Vedha”), opened on June 16 worldwide in Hindi, Telugu Tamil, Malayalam and Kannada-language versions. Raut’s storytelling, which uses modern techniques to retell the ancient epic, divided critics, but evidently had little dissuasive effect on audiences. “Adipurush” scored a $2.5 million weekend in India and $30.6 million internationally, making it the fifth highest weekend grosser after “The Flash,” “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts,” “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Elemental,” according to numbers released by Comscore. It was the second highest Indian worldwide opener of the year after Shah Rukh Khan’s “Pathaan” and the fifth highest Indian opener of all time after “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion,” “RRR,” “K.G.F: Chapter 2” and “Pathaan.”

Hollywood stars are not exempt from having troubled relationships with their mothers. Drew Barrymore recently clarified comments that she "never" has wished her mother was dead.The pair has had a turbulent relationship for decades with Barrymore, 48, becoming emancipated from her mother at the age of 14 to strike out and live on her own. On the other hand, "iCarly" star Jennette McCurdy titled her 2020 memoir, "I'm Glad my Mom Died." Matthew McConaughey and his mother, Kelly, sat down for an episode of Jada Pinkett-Smith’s "Red Table Talk" in 2021 to dish on their eight-year estrangement.  Here's a look at some celebrities who have made their feuds with their mothers public over the years.

Refresh for latest…: Warner Bros/DC’s The Flash sped into 78 overseas markets this weekend, grossing $75M, below the $85M-$95M we saw coming into the frame. With domestic’s slow-crawl three-day included, that makes for a $139M global opening. This is lower than projections, with general audiences not rushing out to see the deeper universe pic.

Ben Croll The walls of Barcelona’s international convention center might soon rattle once the 4,000 European exhibitors, suppliers and service providers in town for the CineEurope trade show breathe out a collective sigh of relief. At the root of such succor are Europe’s more than encouraging box-office admissions, which saw a marked uptick in late 2022 and have continued to rise into the new year. “I think this edition will be very much about celebrating because 2022 was a much better year than 2021,” says Laura Houlgatte, CEO of the Intl. Union of Cinemas (UNIC), which tends to the needs of cinema trade associations and exhibitors across the old continent. “[What’s more] the numbers for the first quarter of 2023 have left everyone in a very good mood.”

Rotten Tomatoes.Both of those audience metrics are below what was received for “Black Adam,” a DC film that opened to $67 million domestic and $140 million worldwide last fall and which “The Flash” had long been expected to top. “Black Adam” grossed just $393 million against a $200 million budget before marketing costs, and it is now likely that “Flash” will fall below that total from a similar if not higher budget.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter “The Flash,” a superhero adventure starring Ezra Miller, emerged victorious over Pixar’s “Elemental” in a battle of the box office lightweights. This weekend’s two new releases were once expected to ignite the summer box office but instead entirely missed the mark, as “The Flash” stumbled with $55 million and “Elemental” collected just $29.5 million in their respective debuts. Both of those films fell short of already-low expectations. And worse, they were pricy endeavors, costing $200 million to make and roughly $100 million to market, so they are shaping up to be huge disappointments in their theatrical runs. In the lead-up to “The Flash,” executives at Warner Bros. worked hard to convince the public that the film is “one of the greatest superhero movies ever made.” Directed by Andy Muschietti, the story picks up as Miller’s Barry Allen a.k.a The Flash travels back in time to prevent his mother’s murder and inadvertently cracks open the DC multiverse. (Cameos abound!) But its tepid “B” CinemaScore from opening weekend crowds suggests that the moviegoing masses didn’t entirely agree with the lavish praise bestowed on the film by the people who made it. Without positive audience scores or strong word-of-mouth, “The Flash” will struggle to rebound in the coming weeks, especially as summer season heats up with the release of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” on June 30, “Mission: Impossible 7” on July 12 and Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” on July 21.

In today’s episode of The Discourse, host Mike DeAngelo speeds his way through the DC Universe with director Andy Muschietti & producer Barbara Muschietti (“IT,” “Mama”). The talented duo is promoting their latest film, “The Flash,” which follows Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) discovering that his speed unlocks the ability to change the past that has haunted him and, in turn, plunges him into another timeline where many of the heroes he knows do not exist.