Box Office Bomb: ‘The Marvels’ Opening to $47M-$52M in New Low for Marvel Studios

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The movie's performance fuels the theory that superhero fatigue is a real thing if a pic doesn't deliver on every front.

The Marvels is anything but marvelous so far at the box office.

Based on Friday earnings of $21.5 million, the Marvel Studios and Disney superhero tentpole is headed for a domestic opening of $47 million to $52 million to rank as the worst start in the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Marvels marks a new low for Kevin Feige‘s Marvel Studios, which for years was unrivaled in its success, and bolsters the theory that superhero fatigue is a real thing as fanboys grow weary of a glut of titles and are far less forgiving.

Until now, rival DC was the superhero studio that endured the biggest ups and downs, with a good number of its films opening to $50 million or less (in comparison, many MCU releases started with $100 million or more domestically). This summer, DC’s The Flash debuted to a dismal $55 million domestically on its way to topping out at a paltry $270.6 million globally.

Word of mouth is already hurting The Marvels, which is only the third MCU title to receive a B CinemaScore from audiences after Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania. The vast majority of MCU releases have earned some variation of an A. Its Rotten Tomatoes critics’ score of 62 percent is likewise on the lower end.

The 33rd installment in the MCU is a sequel to the 2019 Brie Larson starrer Captain Marvel, which opened to $153.4 million in North America on its way to earning a massive $1.13 billion worldwide, not adjusted for inflation. That movie had a clear advantage in that it was teased in the post-credit scene of 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, while its titular star was a player in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame (it was released between the two Marvel mega-blockbusters).

To date, 2008’s The Incredible Hulk holds the record for the lowest domestic opening of any MCU title at $55.4 million, not adjusted for inflation (Marvel, which wasn’t owned by Disney at the time, partnered with Universal for Hulk). The next lowest MCU opening belongs to Marvel/Disney’s Ant-Man, which started with $57.2 million domestically in 2015.

In the new movie, Larson is joined by Iman Vellani, the breakout star of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel, as well as Teyonah Parris as the grown-up version of Captain Marvel character Monica Rambeau. The actor made her Marvel debut with WandaVision, which counted The Marvels screenwriter Megan McDonnell among its writers.

The Marvels is unique for a superhero film in that it stars three female leads. It was directed by Nia DaCosta, who is the first Black woman to direct a Marvel Studios movie, as well as the youngest director of an MCU film (DaCosta turns 34 on Nov. . Marvel has taken pride in fostering such indie directors as Ryan Coogler, Taika Waititi and Chloé Zhao.

The cast of The Marvels wasn’t able to do any promotion or publicity because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, although Larson and her co-stars sprung into action Thursday after the strike ended. Larson appeared on The Tonight Show on Friday, while she and her co-stars will surprise fans at various screenings of the movie in New York City.

Overseas, The Marvels is pacing to open to $60 million for a global start of $140 million, compared to nearly $190 million for Captain Marvel.

 

[AnotherPleb]

ETA: For me the biggest sin was wasting Poe away. He had the potential to be a likable and heroic guy, but they cucked him out so bad in TLJ that nobody cared.

Poe and Finn were both done fucking dirty in the ST because KK's self-insert Rey had to be the one taking the lead. In a less shit timeline Finn would have been force sensitive.

 

[Not A Bunny]

Poe and Finn were both done fucking dirty in the ST because KK's self-insert Rey had to be the one taking the lead. In a less shit timeline Finn would have been force sensitive.

Name one person that wasn't really done dirty.

Hell, I contend that for all the shit people claimed got dumped on Kelly Marie Tran (there is still no evidence), the person that hated her the absolute most is the person who put her in that godawful costume in TLJ. To go a bit further, other than Rey, name one woman in that movie that didn't get an awful fucking costume.

 

[ilovejews]

oh dear fucking god

most women don't have hobbies: they have social activities
it just so happens the more you know of certain nerd shit, the more social points you get now

I remember when anime was weird geek shit and now it's le heckin kinorino. I remember when video games were weird geek shit and now it's mainstream. I remember when fucking tabletop was the geekiest of the eeky, and now people talk about it like they actually play. Fucking larping was a forbidden black art only for the most delusional and lamest nerds but that's seen as cool now.
i fucking hate normies

I miss not being normalized, bros...

 

[Mr. Zed da Robot Poon Fed]

Name one person that wasn't really done dirty.

Hell, I contend that for all the shit people claimed got dumped on Kelly Marie Tran (there is still no evidence), the person that hated her the absolute most is the person who put her in that godawful costume in TLJ. To go a bit further, other than Rey, name one woman in that movie that didn't get an awful fucking costume.

Kelly Marie Tran could have been in a much better role than frumpy fangirl. Any hate going to her specifically is autistic because 99% of the time, the blame really falls on the director/writer.

 

[greenthrowaway]

Jordan Peterson isn't even a radical guy or even considered a part of the manosphere by people in it. That's crazy part. Of all the people to make the caricature, it was someone who bordered what they're against by twenty feet. Just so fucking absurd.

It's pretty standard in a leftist purity spiral. I remember in the early 2000s during Bush, Something Awful leftists would constantly say that libertarians weren't allowed on the site and they were basically the #1 worst people ever. I didn't understand this, as they seemed aligned with wanting to get the neocons out of office and end the Iraq war, until I studied more history of communism and discovered this was the most common attack plan once a successful infiltration of a community or organization happens, eliminate all competing revolutionaries.

It's why they are so anti TERF. You'd think they'd go after true anti feminist men, but that's the enemy they need for intersectional allydom to work and for them to cover their group with us as much oppression and victimhood and identities as possible.

Peterson as a milquetoast Liberal, who has a following, is what cannot exist. He must be destroyed while the proxy "fight" with the evil mens rights advocates never will actually happen.

 

[Not A Bunny]

It's pretty standard in a leftist purity spiral. I remember in the early 2000s during Bush, Something Awful leftists would constantly say that libertarians weren't allowed on the site and they were basically the #1 worst people ever. I didn't understand this, as they seemed aligned with wanting to get the neocons out of office and end the Iraq war, until I studied more history of communism and discovered this was the most common attack plan once a successful infiltration of a community or organization happens, eliminate all competing revolutionaries.

It's why they are so anti TERF. You'd think they'd go after true anti feminist men, but that's the enemy they need for intersectional allydom to work and for them to cover their group with us as much oppression and victimhood and identities as possible.

Peterson as a milquetoast Liberal, who has a following, is what cannot exist. He must be destroyed while the proxy "fight" with the evil mens rights advocates never will actually happen.

It's so incredibly hard to watch when someone who the press has just gotten their dirty claws in and everybody decides to hate them because that's just what the cool kids are doing.

You'd think we'd have left high school but no one really does, do they?

 

[Xarpho's Return]

Poe and Finn were both done fucking dirty in the ST because KK's self-insert Rey had to be the one taking the lead. In a less shit timeline Finn would have been force sensitive.

Not to mention that the idea of Finn being an ex-Stormtrooper was completely wasted, and spent most of TFA being a less annoying version of Jar Jar Binks.

ST as a whole was at best, an unnecessary series full of interesting but wasted or mismanaged ideas. At worst it's an embarrassment that destroyed the legacy of a beloved and extremely profitable franchise.

 

[W00K #17]

Oppenheimer and Killers of The Flower Moon are the only movies I've seen in the theater this year. They were both great movies. I saw Oppenheimer twice, on release day and on national movie day when tickets were dirt cheap and I went with a different group of friends.

I'm also gonna see Napoleon and the new Godzilla when they release and that's about it for this year.

I'm so over capeshit. Just let it die.

I remember when The Revenant released, and I was so happy that Hollywood made a large budget film that wasn't comic book crap. That was years ago.

Hopefully the MCU is dying and Hollywood is willing to make, something, anything, fucking different for a change.

 

[SIMIΔN]

Kelly Marie Tran could have been in a much better role than frumpy fangirl

I actually liked her character.
An ordinary person thrust into an extraordinary story.
Rey and Kylo were omnitalented space wizards
We were informed Purple Hair was a genius admiral.
Poe was a superhumanly good fighter ace.
Chewie was super strong and a brilliant engineer.

But she was normal, a bereaved girl trying to do what is right.

Find was the equally bad opposite, despite the actor's wily talent in other action films, and the character's implied insider knowledge, he was basically a racist caricature of an lustful and animalistic Negro slave.

 

[Tablet County]

Never forget that THIS is the type of character Marvel wants to force on you and make you love and accept them and buy all their merch:

View attachment 5490557
View attachment 5490558

Based teacher lecturing annoying niglet that she's not oppressed and should get over herself.

 

[Fartificial Insmelligence]

Poe and Finn were both done fucking dirty in the ST because KK's self-insert Rey had to be the one taking the lead. In a less shit timeline Finn would have been force sensitive.

Honestly I don’t even think Daisy Ridley and Phoebe Waller Bridge are meant to be self-inserts, I think KK has a fetish for British brunettes and they had to chow some box to get starring roles in Star Wars and the latest Indy movie.

 

[RodgerDodger]

Good News Everybody! The Marvel's is no longer this months worst Disney Movie release! Wish washed out. It's gonna make $32 Million over it's 5 day Holiday opening. Placing third behind Hunger Games the Prequel nobody asked for. And Napoleon, a fake history biopic from Ridley Scott. That'll show them Chuds!

Oh and the Marvel's is still not going to clear $100 Million in its total domestic run or $200 million Worldwide.