Cinema stocks lag after 'The Flash,' 'Elemental' sink
Cinema stocks are sharply lower on the day following a double disappointment at the box office over the weekend -- as two high-profile releases came up flat.
One key debut from the weekend was The Flash (NASDAQ:WBD), the zippy next entry in the DC Comics cinematic universe. Expected to draw at least $70M over the three-day weekend, it pulled just $55.7M, and was projected to hit just $64.2M over a four-day weekend including the Juneteenth holiday, according to Comscore.
But it may be worse even than that, as Warner Bros. (WBD) now suggests the four-day take will be just $61M, a significant miss of even the studio's own late forecasts.
Meanwhile it faced competition from traditionally reliable hitmaker Pixar (NYSE:DIS), with its latest in Elemental. But the animated film pulled just $29.5M for the three-day weekend and a projected $33.3M over four days, Comscore said -- the worst three-day opening for a Pixar film ever (adjusting for inflation; Toy Story opened to $29.1M in 1995 dollars).
Elemental is Pixar's second straight disappointment after last year's Disney/Pixar film Lightyear wrapped its run with $118.3M in domestic grosses, and just $226.4M worldwide.
Movie-theater stocks were distinctly lower as a group: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC) -2.9%, Cinemark (CNK) -3.8%; IMAX (IMAX) -3%; Marcus (MCS) -2.9%; Reading International (RDI) -5.3%; National CineMedia (NCMI) -8.9%. Cineplex (CGX:CA) is down 1.4% in Toronto.
More on U.S. box office

'Fast X' zooms to capture box-office bucks for weekend
Marvel's 'Guardians 3' set for another weekend atop box office
'Mario' jumps over movie competition for third straight week with $58M
Smashing second weekend makes 'Mario' 2023's top movie