History BoxOfficeBomb / DCComicsFilms

** '''''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}''''' (2023) -- Budget, $200-220 million [[note]] Some sources put the production budget as high as $300 million.[[/note]]. Box office, $108,133,313 (domestic), $268,533,313 (worldwide). After spending roughly a decade in DevelopmentHell as the DCEU took shape and COVID-19 shook up the film industry, this effort to finally bring the iconic DC Comics character to the big screen faced even greater challenges after filming wrapped. Creator/EzraMiller became the center of numerous legal controversies that made it impossible for the film's [[ActingForTwo lead and co-lead]] to do any promotion for the movie and cost WB many product endorsements that typically help offset costs. Ads were forced to focus on the film's [[TheMultiverse multiverse]] concept (particularly the return of Creator/MichaelKeaton to the role of Batman for the first time since ''Film/BatmanReturns'' three decades prior, [[UncertainAudience reaching out for a significantly older viewerbase than what WB was targeting]]) and the film's intended role in rebooting the entire DC movie universe, which (as evident by the previous entries on this page) hadn't had any box office success since before the pandemic. This [[TaintedByThePreview kneecapped the film in generating positive pre-release buzz]], as audiences were already fatigued by superhero ''and'' multiverse-based films (and for those who weren't, ''WesternAnimation/SpiderManAcrossTheSpiderVerse'' provided stiff competition), the focus on subject matters ''other than its title character'' gave the impression that WB had no confidence in the project and was desperate to [[PanderingToTheBase bank on nostalgic fans]] for success (even if the finished film is still Flash-centric), and the news of the upcoming reboot by James Gunn [[TheFireflyEffect led audiences to think it was inconsequential and unnecessary]]. All this, combined with other issues -- the [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes WGA strike]], chaos at [[Creator/WarnerBrosDiscovery WB after its merger with Discovery]] (including the scrapping of a nearly completed ''Batgirl'' movie that would have included Keaton, for a tax write-off), and lukewarm reviews for the movie – led to a disaster at the box office, with a poor opening and near-record week-to-week dropoffs. Several reports after its release have estimated that the film lost $200 million '''at the least''', which would make it one of the biggest, if not the biggest, box office bomb of all time. Some have even speculated that WB would have lost less money had they decided to scrap ''The Flash'' entirely as they had with ''Batgirl'' or released it straight to streaming.

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984''''' (2020) -- Budget, $200 million. Box office, $46,801,036 (domestic), $169,601,036 (worldwide). A massive drop compared to the first film's $412 million domestic/$822 million worldwide. The film was released amidst one of the worst timeframes of the COVID-19 pandemicn in December 2020, with many theaters still being closed, and it was the first of the "Day-and-Date" releases on [[Creator/{{Max}} HBO Max]] (which caused much piracy), and that difficult release was combined with mixed-to-terrible reviews and word of mouth. Creator/PattyJenkins, who still stands by her creative choices on the film, was eventually let go by Creator/DCStudios out of CreativeDifferences once James Gunn took over, and plans for a third film were quietly dropped, possibly also meaning the end of Creator/GalGadot's run in the role.

A number of films based off Creator/DCComics characters have bombed since TheEighties, often due to inflated budgets from [[TroubledProduction/DCComicsFilms troubled productions]], themselves often due to a notorious and puzzling history of ExecutiveMeddling from Creator/WarnerBros that made them struggle to find an audience.

* '''''Film/BatmanAndRobin''''' (1997) -- Budget, $160 million (plus $125 million marketing). Box office, $107,353,792 (domestic), $238,235,719 (worldwide). The other infamous fourth installment of a once-groundbreaking DC movie series, its critical thrashing and financial underperformance cast a permanent shadow over Creator/JoelSchumacher for the rest of his career, set back the careers of several of its lead actors (with Creator/AliciaSilverstone getting the worst of it), and ended the original ''Film/BatmanFilmSeries'', keeping the Caped Crusader off the big screen for nearly a decade until Creator/ChristopherNolan brought him back with ''Film/BatmanBegins''.

* '''''Film/{{Catwoman|2004}}''''' (2004) -- Budget, $100 million. Box office, $40,202,379 (domestic), $82,102,379 (worldwide). This was DC's first film since the double bombs of 1997, and it was definitely not the comeback they were looking for. This film was meant to be a spinoff of ''Film/BatmanReturns'', but it suffered through DevelopmentHell that led to it not having anything to do with ''ComicBook/{{Batman}}''. Creator/HalleBerry quit the ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' franchise to take the role of the titular character and be in this film, only for ''Catwoman'' to become one of the biggest critical busts of 2004. Berry personally accepted her Razzie, stating [[SarcasmMode "It was just what my career needed."]] Said career [[StarDerailingRole had to fight its way back]]. The movie was also a major blow to BigBad actress Creator/SharonStone, who followed it up with ''Film/BasicInstinct2'', setting it back even further. Along with ''Film/{{Elektra}}'', this helped keep the superheroine genre barren after films like ''Film/{{Supergirl|1984}}'' made it that way, and it also ensured director "Pitof" would not helm another major project. DC would have to wait another year for ''Film/BatmanBegins'' to regain ground in the entertainment industry and thirteen years for ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'' to take another crack at the superheroine genre and finally see major box office success.

A number of films based off Creator/DCComics characters have bombed since TheEighties, often due to inflated budgets from [[TroubledProduction/DCComicsFilms troubled productions]], themselves often due to a notorious history of ExecutiveMeddling from Creator/WarnerBros that made them struggle to find an audience.

** '''''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}''''' (2017) -- Budget, $300 million ($500 million including marketing, interest expense, and residuals). Box office, $229,024,295 (domestic), $657,926,987 (worldwide). Following the critically polarizing but financially successful ''Film/ManOfSteel'', the CriticProof duo of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' and ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'', and the runaway success of ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'', ''Justice League'' was expected to have a box office performance that could rival the MCU's ''Avengers'' movies. This was among the most expensive films ever made, caused in part by its TroubledProduction that saw Creator/ZackSnyder replaced with Creator/JossWhedon during reshoots, so it needed to gross a massive amount just to break even. Instead it earned the [[MedalOfDishonor dubious title]] of "[[https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/12/12/justice-league-is-the-biggest-grossing-box-office-bomb-ever/ most successful box office bomb ever]]" as [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2017/11/20/warner-bros-faces-a-possible-50m-to-100m-loss-on-justice-league/#5e80a1e25d8b industry analysts]] believe this film lost $50 to $100 million for Warner Brothers. It opened in a [[Literature/Wonder2012 surprisingly]] [[Film/ThorRagnarok competitive]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Coco}} season]] on the release calendar. Its opening domestic weekend of $93.8 million was only about half of ''[=BvS=]'' and the lowest of any DCEU film to that point, suffering from lackluster marketing and critical backlash after [[NotScreenedForCritics a long embargo]]. The film's failure prompted the studio to fire several members of Creator/DCFilms including heads Creator/GeoffJohns and Jon Berg, while both Snyder and Whedon were removed from future DC films, the latter also being accused of abusive behavior during the reshoots. Walter Hamada became the new chairman in January 2018. Meanwhile, after a massive [[SendingStuffToSaveTheShow fan campaign]], Snyder was eventually allowed to release his original vision of the film as ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' in 2021 to noticeably better critical reception, leading to some thinking that releasing a shorter version of ''that'' movie in November 2017 would've yielded better results than what came out of [[TroubledProduction Whedon's numerous, costly, and rushed reshoots]].

** '''''Film/{{Blue Beetle|2023}}''''' (2023) - Budget, $104-120 million. Box office, $72,397,133 (domestic), $129,197,133 (worldwide). While it got the best reviews for a DCEU movie since ''The Suicide Squad'' and featured an AllStarCast of Latin-American talent, the circumstances around its release were dire; [[InvisibleAdvertising the advertising was limited to two trailers and a few TV spots]], it was releasing towards the end of [[DumpMonths August]], it was yet another leftover of the DCEU that audiences knew that the upcoming reboot would render pointless (though James Gunn intends to put the character in his new universe, and with the same actor too), the SAG-AFTRA strikes going on at the time prevented the cast from promoting the film themselves, and most general audiences had lost faith in the DC brand after the DCEU's string of flops, ''especially'' after the monumental flop of ''The Flash'' barely two months prior. Couple that with many audiences experiencing genre fatigue (and ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtlesMutantMayhem'' appealing to others who weren't) and key markets the film was targeting being impacted by Tropical Storm Hilary, and ''Blue Beetle'' barely edged out ''SHAZAM! Fury of the Gods'' as the lowest grossing film in the franchise (though it actually made more money domestically).

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984''''' (2020) -- Budget, $200 million. Box office, $46,801,036 (domestic), $169,601,036 (worldwide). A massive drop compared to the first film's $412 million domestic/$822 million worldwide. The film was released amidst one of the worst timeframes of the COVID-19 pandemicn in December 2020, with many theaters still being closed, and it was the first of the "Day-and-Date" releases on [[Creator/{{Max}} HBO Max]] (which caused much piracy), and that difficult release was combined with mixed-to-terrible reviews and word of mouth. Creator/PattyJenkins, who stuck by her creative choices on the film, was eventually let go by Creator/DCStudios out of CreativeDifferences once James Gunn took over, and plans for a third film were quietly dropped, possibly also meaning the end of Creator/GalGadot's run in the role.

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984''''' (2020) -- Budget, $200 million. Box office, $46,801,036 (domestic), $169,601,036 (worldwide). A massive drop compared to the first film's $412 million domestic/$822 million worldwide, was released amidst one of the worst timeframes of the COVID-19 in December 2020 with many theaters still being closed and was the first of the "Day-and-Date" releases on [[Creator/{{Max}} HBO Max]], and that difficult release was combined with mixed-to-terrible reviews and word of mouth. Creator/PattyJenkins was eventually let go by Creator/DCStudios out of CreativeDifferences once James Gunn took over, and plans for a third film were quietly dropped.

** '''''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}''''' (2017) -- Budget, $300 million ($500 million including marketing, interest expense, and residuals). Box office, $229,024,295 (domestic), $657,926,987 (worldwide). Following the critically polarizing but financially successful ''Film/ManOfSteel'', the CriticProof duo of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' and ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'', and the runaway success of ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'', ''Justice League'' was expected to have a box office that could rival the MCU's ''Avengers'' movies. This was among the most expensive films ever made, caused in part by its TroubledProduction that saw Creator/ZackSnyder replaced with Creator/JossWhedon during reshoots, so it needed to gross a massive amount just to break even. Instead it earned the [[MedalOfDishonor dubious title]] of "[[https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2017/12/12/justice-league-is-the-biggest-grossing-box-office-bomb-ever/ most successful box office bomb ever]]" as [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2017/11/20/warner-bros-faces-a-possible-50m-to-100m-loss-on-justice-league/#5e80a1e25d8b industry analysts]] believe this film lost $50 to $100 million for Warner Brothers. It opened in a [[Literature/Wonder2012 surprisingly]] [[Film/ThorRagnarok competitive]] [[WesternAnimation/{{Coco}} season]] on the release calendar. Its opening domestic weekend of $93.8 million was only about half of ''[=BvS=]'' and the lowest of any DCEU film to that point, suffering from lackluster marketing and critical backlash after [[NotScreenedForCritics a long embargo]]. The film's failure prompted the studio to fire several members of Creator/DCFilms including heads Creator/GeoffJohns and Jon Berg, while both Snyder and Whedon were removed from future DC films, the latter also being accused of abusive behavior during the reshoots. Walter Hamada became the new chairman in January 2018. Meanwhile, after a massive [[SendingStuffToSaveTheShow fan campaign]], Snyder was eventually allowed to release his original vision of the film as ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'' in 2021 to noticeably better critical reception, leading to some thinking that releasing a shorter version of ''that'' movie in November 2017 would've yielded better results than what came out of [[TroubledProduction Whedon's numerous, costly, and rushed reshoots]].