Has there ever been a hype train that’s derailed faster and more spectacularly than The Flash? It was only weeks ago we were being told it was one of the greatest comic book adaptations of all-time, and now it’s on course to go down as one of the biggest box office bombs in history.
Having been in free-fall domestically ever since the end of its opening weekend, the movie’s overseas performance tends to be getting overlooked. Underlining just how badly things are going, it’s been revealed that Egyptian comedy Beit El Ruby has knocked the Scarlet Speedster from the summit of the Saudi Arabian rankings.
It wasn’t particularly close, either, with Variety revealing The Flash has sold 91,000 tickets in total since premiering in the country, while Beit El Ruby shifted 71,000 stubs in its first frame alone. While it’s no great shakes to have a flailing blockbuster being dislodged so soon and so easily, it is worth noting that Egypt and Saudi Arabia’s relations have been fairly fraught both recently and historically.
Then again, a combination of factors including the kingdom’s status as the largest market for cinema in the entire Middle East, the growing influence of Egyptian titles among local cinemagoers, and the fact The Flash is already bleeding buckets of money means that it shouldn’t really come as all that much of a surprise, regardless of the two nations holding talks as recently as this past April in an attempt to mend fences.
The number of countries where The Flash tops the charts is dwindling by the day, with financial disaster staring Warner Bros. squarely in the face.