Marvel’s newest superhero team assembled last night when The Marvels finally hit theaters.
The latest chapter in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sees Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) team up with Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) and Photon (Teyonah Parris) to stop an intergalactic threat.
Photo: Marvel
While die-hard Marvel fans will be excited to see how Captain Marvel’s story continues, The Marvels only managed to bring in $6.6 million in previews and is now tracking towards a $60-65 million opening.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly
That number would be a far cry from Brie Larson’s MCU debut in Captain Marvel, which opened to $153 million. The film also managed to bring in $20.7 million in Thursday previews.
‘The Marvels’ Opening Weekend Looks Historically Bad
The box office in 2023 is a far cry from the pre-pandemic world of Captain Marvel. That film was also buoyed by the fact that it was released between Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
Still, even a $65 million opening by The Marvels would have to be a huge disappointment. Earlier this year, the much-maligned Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania opened to $104 million, while Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 managed to bring in $118 million.
Photo: D23
In fact, the only MCU movies with a smaller opening weekend than The Marvels’ projection would be 2008’s The Incredible Hulk ($55.4 million) and 2015’s Ant-Man ($57.2 million).
The Marvels reportedly cost Disney $220 million to produce and roughly $100 million to promote. The film will clearly have its work cut out for it to try and reach profitability at the box office.
Photo: Also Entertainment Weekly
At that international box office, The Marvels is tracking towards an $80 million opening, for a global start of $140-$145 million.
Can ‘The Marvels’ Starpower Save the Film?
Still, The Marvels may still have hope. In the lead-up to the film’s release, Marvel has been bereft of the film’s star-studded cast due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
With the strike now over, Larson, Rambeau, Vellani, and their cohorts Samuel L. Jackson and Zawe Ashton could theoretically give The Marvels the spark it has been missing.
Photo: Entertainment Weekly
The Marvels will have to show long legs in theaters to be a box office success. This would buck the overall trend for MCU films, which typically open to big numbers before sharply dropping off.
Should The Marvels struggle at the box office, Marvel Studios will have even more questions to answer. For now, however, all they can do is wait.
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