History BoxOfficeBomb / DCComicsFilms

** Continuing that disastrous run, '''''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}''''', on a $200-220 million budget, made just $107.8 million domestically and $267.5 million 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 franchise, 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 [[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, near-record week-to-week dropoffs, and ending at an estimated $200 million loss, making it ''one of the biggest flops of all time''. Some have 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'''''. With a budget of $200 million, it grossed $46,801,036 domestically, and $169,601,036 worldwide. The massive drop compared to the [[Film/WonderWoman2017 first film]] was almost inevitable due to being released at the peak of the Usefulnotes/Covid19Pandemic in December 2020 when many theaters were still closed, but getting a muted reception from critics (often wondering why it didn't build upon what worked very well with the first film) also didn't help. Warner also released the film simultaneously on Creator/HBOMax and primarily marketed it as a streaming release, with theaters being an afterthought. It's unclear how much income the film generated via HBO Max signups. While it did well enough to ensure that Warner continued this model with ''all'' its theatrical tentpoles the following year, it was a decision the studio came to regret, as that resulted in almost every movie released that way underperforming and Creator/ChristopherNolan cutting ties with them and setting up shop at Creator/{{Universal}} to make ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}''. Creator/PattyJenkins either left or was let go after CreativeDifferences ensued about he planned third ''Wonder Woman'' film (which got canned), and plans for a new film, this time in James Gunn's DCU, that would star Creator/GalGadot again are still in flux.

** '''''Film/{{Black Adam|2022}}''''', with a budget that started at $190 million but ballooned to $260 million after reshoots, made $393.3 million in the worldwide box office. It was actually one of the higher grossing DCEU movies post-''SHAZAM!'' and above-average in Creator/DwayneJohnson's catalog in general, but its massive budget set a high break-even point that it failed to reach (it cost more than twice as much as ''SHAZAM!''). The film is estimated to have lost WB $50-100 million. Not helping is that the Rock's hyping of the movie prior to release caused HypeAversion for a number of DC fans going in, particularly those who got sick of him insisting the film would completely change the hierarchy of the DC Universe, much of which stems from ignoring Shazam to focus entirely on a proposed conflict between Black Adam and Superman. Ironically enough, not long after this movie was released, Walter Hamada left the company and James Gunn took over, announcing a reboot for the franchise, resulting in Cavill's return as Superman being nixed.

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984'''''. With a budget of $200 million, it grossed $46,801,036 domestically, and $169,601,036 worldwide. The massive drop compared to the [[Film/WonderWoman2017 first film]] was almost inevitable due to being released at the peak of the Usefulnotes/Covid19Pandemic in December 2020 when many theaters were still closed, but getting a muted reception from critics (often wondering why it didn't build upon what worked very well with the first film) also didn't help. Warner also released the film simultaneously on Creator/HBOMax and primarily marketed it as a streaming release, with theaters being an afterthought. It's unclear how much income the film generated via HBO Max signups. While it did well enough to ensure that Warner continued this model with ''all'' its theatrical tentpoles the following year, it was a decision the studio came to regret, as that resulted in almost every movie released that way underperforming and Creator/ChristopherNolan cutting ties with them and setting up shop at Creator/{{Universal}} ro make ''Film/{{Oppenheimer}}''. Creator/PattyJenkins either left or was let go after CreativeDifferences ensued about he planned third ''Wonder Woman'' film (which got canned), and plans for a new film, this time in James Gunn's DCU, that would star Creator/GalGadot again are still in flux.

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984'''''. With a budget of $200 million, it grossed $46,801,036 domestically, and $169,601,036 worldwide. The massive drop compared to the [[Film/WonderWoman2017 first film]] was almost inevitable due to being released at the peak of the Usefulnotes/Covid19Pandemic in December 2020 when many theaters were still closed, but getting a muted reception from critics (often wondering why it didn't build upon what worked very well with the first film) also didn't help. Warner also released the film simultaneously on Creator/HBOMax and primarily marketed it as a streaming release, with theaters being an afterthought. It's unclear how much income the film generated via HBO Max signups. While it did well enough to ensure that Warner continued this model with ''all'' its theatrical tentpoles the following year, it was a decision the studio came to regret, as that resulted in almost every movie released that way underperforming and Creator/ChristopherNolan cutting ties with them. Creator/PattyJenkins either left or was let go after CreativeDifferences ensued about he planned third ''Wonder Woman'' film (which got canned), and plans for a new film, this time in James Gunn's DCU, that would star Creator/GalGadot again are still in flux.

* '''''Film/TheKitchen''''' (2019), based off a DC Vertigo comic, made only $16 million off a $38 million dollar budget. Its' $5.5 million opening weekend just ''barely'' outdid ''Jonah Hex'' for the worst opening weekend of a DC-related film and was the worst opening weekend for lead actress Creator/MelissaMccarthy. It quickly petered out and was out of theaters before the month was over.

* '''''Film/JonahHex''''' grossed just under $11 million out of a $47 million budget. Releasing against the heavily anticipated ''Film/ToyStory3'' did '''not''' help- it still holds the lowest opening weekend of the entire company, with just $5.6 million, then plummeted to just ''$1.6'' million the next week.

* '''''Film/JonahHex''''' grossed just under $11 million out of a $47 million budget. Releasing against the heavily anticipated ''{{Film/ToyStory3}}'' did '''not''' help- it still holds the lowest opening weekend of the entire company, with just $5.6 million, then plummeted to just ''$1.6'' million the next week.

* '''''Film/JonahHex''''' grossed $11 million out of a $47 million budget.

* A notorious one with 2011's '''''Film/{{Green Lantern|2011}}'''''. Budget: $225 million (plus another $100 million for marketing, creating a $325 million threshold just to meet the budget and a likely $650 million target to break even). Total box office: $219,851,172. Being critically panned didn't help.

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. It also partly explains the studio's overreliance on Franchise/{{Batman}} adaptations regarding Franchise/TheDCU, being the biggest and easiest CashCowFranchise in the latter by far.

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984'''''. With a budget of $200 million, it grossed $46,801,036 domestically, and $169,601,036 worldwide. The massive drop compared to the [[Film/WonderWoman2017 first film]] was almost inevitable due to being released at the peak of the Usefulnotes/Covid19Pandemic in December 2020 when many theaters were still closed, but getting a muted reception from critics (often wondering why it didn't build upon what worked very well with the first film) also didn't help. Warner also released the film simultaneously on Creator/HBOMax and primarily marketed it as a streaming release, with theaters being an afterthought. It's unclear how much income the film generated via HBO Max signups; while it did well enough to ensure that Warner continued this model with ''all'' its theatrical tentpoles the following year (a decision the studio came to regret, as that resulted in almost every movie released that way underperforming and Creator/ChristopherNolan cutting ties with them), it didn't do well enough for WB/DC to proceed with a third ''Wonder Woman'' film, and Creator/PattyJenkins either left or was let go after CreativeDifferences ensued.

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984'''''. With a budget of $200 million, it grossed $46,801,036 domestically, and $169,601,036 worldwide. The massive drop compared to the [[Film/WonderWoman2017 first film]] was almost inevitable due to being released at the peak of the Usefulnotes/Covid19Pandemic in December 2020 when many theaters were still closed, but getting a muted reception from critics (often wondering why it didn't build upon what worked very well with the first film) also didn't help. Warner also released the film simultaneously on Creator/HBOMax and primarily marketed it as a streaming release, with theaters being an afterthought. It's unclear how much income the film generated via HBO Max signups; while it did well enough to ensure that Warner continued this model with ''all'' its theatrical tentpoles the following year (a decision the studio came to regret, as that resulted in almost every movie released that way underperforming and Creator/ChristopherNolan cutting ties with them), it didn't do well enough for DC to proceed with the third ''Wonder Woman'' film series, and Creator/PattyJenkins either left or was let go after CreativeDifferences ensued.

** '''''Film/WonderWoman1984'''''. With a budget of $200 million, it grossed $46,801,036 domestically, and $169,601,036 worldwide. The massive drop compared to the [[Film/WonderWoman2017 first film]] was almost inevitable due to being released at the peak of the Usefulnotes/Covid19Pandemic in December 2020 when many theaters were still closed, but getting a muted reception from critics also didn't help. Warner also released the film simultaneously on Creator/HBOMax and primarily marketed it as a streaming release, with theaters being an afterthought. It's unclear how much income the film generated via HBO Max signups; while it did well enough to ensure that Warner continued this model with ''all'' its theatrical tentpoles the following year (a decision the studio came to regret, as that resulted in almost every movie released that way underperforming and Creator/ChristopherNolan cutting ties with them), it didn't do well enough for DC to proceed with the third ''Wonder Woman'' film series, and Creator/PattyJenkins either left or was let go after CreativeDifferences ensued.

* While most film franchises would be [[FranchiseKiller canned]] after just one or two flops, the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse, with its long and troubled history and especially in the changing moviegoing landscape since 2020 in which many studios struggle to adapt as a result of the UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic, ended up in quite a bad string of bombs.

** Continuing that disastrous run, '''''Film/{{The Flash|2023}}''''', on a $200-220 million budget, made just $107.8 million domestically and $267.5 million 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 franchise, 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 [[TheFireflyEffect led audiences to think it was inconsequential and unnecessary]]. All this, combined with other issues -- the [[UsefulNotes/TVStrikes WGA strike]], chaos at 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, near-record week-to-week dropoffs, and ending at an estimated $200 million loss, making it ''one of the biggest flops of all time''. Some have 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.

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. It also partly explains the studio's overreliance on Franchise/{{Batman}} adaptations regarding Franchise/TheDCU, being the biggest CashCowFranchise in the latter by far.

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. It also partly explains the studio's overreliance on Franchise/{{Batman}} adaptations, being the biggest CashCowFranchise in DC by far.

** Coming off the heels of ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' and ''Film/{{Suicide Squad|2016}}'', both of which had poor critical reception but good box office returns, and after the runaway success of ''Film/{{Wonder Woman|2017}}'', '''''Film/{{Justice League|2017}}''''', the next big movie in the franchise, was once expected to have a box office that could rival the Avengers movies. Instead, it was a disappointment both critically and commercially. With a production budget of $300 million ($500 million including marketing, interest expense, and residuals), the movie grossed $229,024,295 domestically and $657,924,295 worldwide. The film has 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]]". This is 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. It also had enormously high expectations for profit, as even the critically disappointing ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'' reached over $850 million on its own. Instead, 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]]. [[https://www.forbes.com/sites/robcain/2017/11/20/warner-bros-faces-a-possible-50m-to-100m-loss-on-justice-league/#5e80a1e25d8b Industry analysts]] predicted this film lost $50 to $100 million for Warner Brothers. 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 Joss Whedon's numerous, costly and rushed reshoots]].

* '''''Film/{{Catwoman|2004}}''''' grossed $82.1 million out of a $100 million budget and was critically panned. Removing the character's ties to the ComicBook/{{Batman}} mythos likely didn't help (see a pattern here?).

* ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' ended up with $15,681,080 at the domestic box office on a $17 million budget (the Cannon Group originally planned a $36 million budget, which was slashed only days before production began). It was the death knell for Creator/ChristopherReeve's tenure in the role.
* ''Film/{{Steel}}'' grossed $1.7 million out of a $16 million budget and was critically panned. Removing the character's ties to the ComicBook/{{Superman}} mythos likely didn't help either.
* ''Film/{{Catwoman|2004}}'' grossed $82.1 million out of a $100 million budget and was critically panned. Removing the character's ties to the ComicBook/{{Batman}} mythos likely didn't help (see a pattern here?).
* ''Film/{{Watchmen}}'' grossed $185.4 million out of a $130–150 million budget.
* ''The Losers'', the 2010 film adaptation of ''ComicBook/TheLosers'' from the DC imprint Creator/VertigoComics, grossed $29.9 million out of a $25 million budget.
* A notorious one with 2011's ''Film/{{Green Lantern|2011}}''. Budget: $225 million (plus another $100 million for marketing, creating a $325 million threshold just to meet the budget and a likely $650 million target to break even). Total box office: $219,851,172. Being critically panned didn't help.

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/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' ended up with $15,681,080 at the domestic box office on a $17 million budget (the Cannon Group originally planned a $36 million budget, which was slashed only days before production began). It was the death knell of Creator/ChristopherReeve's tenure in the role.

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

* ''Film/{{Steel}}'' grossed $1.7 million out of a $16 million budget and was critically panned.

A number of films based off Creator/DCComics characters have bombed since TheEighties, partly due to inflated costs from their [[TroubledProduction/DCComicsFilms troubled productions]] and a notorious history of ExecutiveMeddling from Creator/WarnerBros.

A number of films based off Creator/DCComics characters have bombed, partly due to inflated costs from their [[TroubledProduction/DCComicsFilms troubled productions]] and a notorious history of ExecutiveMeddling from Creator/WarnerBros.