The Flash bolts up $9 million in Thursday night previews

As The Flash runs onto screens across the world, the much talked about solo outing for the superhero gets on track to surpass projections.

After a lengthy development period, delays, and controversy navigation, The Flash has hit theaters. Since his first appearance in a cameo from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in 2016, fans have been preparing for an inevitable solo film that would expand on the character beyond the Justice League team-ups. As The Flash finally screens officially to audiences worldwide, it was projected that the movie would garner $70 million for its opening weekend, which comes below the earnings for films of a similar nature and would seem low for such a big-budget summer tentpole comic book film.

Deadline now reports that Thursday night previews for the fastest superhero have run up a $9 million gross since its start at 3 p.m. The preview earnings rank The Flash among such comic book films as Venom, which brought in $10 million, Doctor Strange, which conjured up $9.4 million and another DC property, Aquaman, which also came in at $9 million. It would surpass the opening for the first Ant-Man film, which earned $6.4 million in early Thursday screenings. This solo film falls under Wonder Woman, which opened with $11 million.

Wonder Woman would generate positive buzz, capitalizing on the popularity of Gal Gadot in the role as well as appealing to a strong female demographic. The Flash would generate hype that gave the film a lot to live up to as the phrase “best superhero movie ever” had gotten kicked around. The studio would even boast praise from celebrities with a sizable following of an otherwise demographic who had been given early access to the film. Warner Bros. took a different approach with its marketing since the shadow of the real-life incidents of the film’s star looms over like a cloud. Their strategy was bold but could be remembered for infamous reasons other than intended.

Warner Bros. and DC are pleased with the outcome so much that Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group and Television signed a multi-picture deal with The Flash director Andy Muschietti and his producing partner, his sister Barbara. In addition, Muschietti has also recently been given the keys to the upcoming Batman reboot in James Gunn and Peter Safran’s new DC film universe, The Brave and the Bold. With numbers like this coming in for Thursday alone, this movie could seemingly surpass expectations and reach around $80 million for the weekend.