The Flash movie leaks on Twitter, with over 1.7 million views tracked before the post was taken down.
After a disappointing second weekend box office, this leak adds to the pile of woes The Flash film has suffered. Leaks of snippets from movies before and during their release are commonplace in the current era of the internet, despite the ethical and legal ramifications. But it is extremely rare for the full movie to be leaked, especially on a social media platform as large as Twitter.
The leak of The Flash circulated on Twitter on June 25 for around 8 hours, with a number of users sharing the link to the tweet.
@jedijrc LMAO THEY LEAKED THE FLASH MOVIE 😠https://t.co/DLRDx8LOXI
— Cobalt (@CobaltGreen1138) June 25, 2023
While the tweet with the movie was removed and the account (@BriYoshFR) has been suspended as of 1PM ET on the same day, the number of views by that point had reached in excess of 1.7 million.
According to the users on Twitter who were able to watch the pirated version, they described the quality of the video attached to the tweet as possibly a camera rip of the movie.
It should be noted that there are instances where leaks of the full film had a negligible effect on the box office. Earlier this year, Forbes reported that 9 million users were able to watch The Super Mario Bros. Movie in its entirety on Twitter while the video game adaptation was still in theaters. But that didn’t stop it from hitting $1.3 billion globally.
But can The Flash realistically have the same results as Nintendo's juggernaut? That is, unfortunately, unlikely. The Flash had a disappointing $55 million opening weekend which then nosedived by 73% on its second weekend box office. With the pirated leak via Twitter watched by nearly 2 million viewers for free, there is little chance of the DCEU film having legs to bounce back with repeat viewings.
Many issues plagued The Flash movie before, during, and after its production. Its main star Ezra Miller was involved in highly publicized and controversial behavior off-camera. Moreover, the announcement of new DC Studios co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran that the DCEU would be rebooted had a negative impact on the interest of long-time fans. Multiple reshoots also led to cameos of Gal Gadot and Henry Cavill at the end of the movie being scrapped for a new, more open-ended conclusion.
With The Flash experiencing a literal downward spiral at the box office, will it lead to its abrupt release to streaming? This occurred with previous DCEU films such as Black Adam and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which were perceived as box office disappointments and quickly became available on the MAX (formerly HBO Max) streaming platform. Given the circumstances affecting The Flash, a similar move by Warner Bros. Discovery may be inevitable.
The Flash stars Ezra Miller, Ben Affleck, Michael Keaton, Sasha Calle, Michael Shannon, Antje Traue, Kiersey Clemons, Maribel Verdu, and Ron Livingston. Directed by Andy Muschietti, The Flash is running in theaters worldwide.
