Highlights
- The Marvels had a lackluster opening weekend, falling short of expectations and facing challenges in reaching the break-even point due to its high budget.
- Oversaturation in the MCU franchise, combined with tough competition from other films, makes it unlikely that The Marvels will see a box office revival.
- The high-profile flop of The Marvels might lead Disney and Marvel Studios executives to reconsider their future approach to the franchise.
The Marvels released to a lackluster opening weekend, bringing in $47 million domestically and $110 million worldwide. Thanks to the film’s reported budget of $275 million, it may surprise readers how much the production must make to break even.
Its predecessor, Captain Marvel, was released in 2019 when the MCU was riding a massive wave started by The Avengers series. Captain Marvel performed exceptionally at the box office and brought in $455 million on its opening weekend, leading to a total gross of over $1.1 billion. However, partly due to oversaturation caused by Disney’s aggressive approach to expanding the MCU universe, new releases from the franchise are seeing much more inconsistent results, including Captain Marvel 2.
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Puck reported that after production costs, marketing expenses, and the cut taken by exhibitors, The Marvels must gross about $700 million before it sees any profits. Now that opening weekend has come and gone, it’s almost inevitable that The Marvels‘ box office results will not come close to that number. With tough competition coming later this month from Ridley Scott’s Napoleon and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, it’s unlikely that The Marvels will see any box office revival.
Recent MCU films like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness performed just fine at the box office and were well-received by critics and audience members. Despite this, The Marvels‘ high-profile flop could lead Disney and Marvel Studios executives to rethink their future approach to the franchise. The Marvels struggled with critics, receiving a B rating on CinemaScore, which ties a record low for the franchise.
The film did have a substantial disadvantage due to the SAG-AFTRA strike. Its stars, such as Brie Larson, couldn’t promote the film until the day before its release. However, its actors being allowed to participate in marketing circuits likely wouldn’t have had enough effect to turn the film’s box office fate around. Many predicted The Marvels would struggle at the box office, and fans are disappointed to see this come true.
Disney CEO Bob Iger deserves a fair bit of blame for the MCU’s recent downturn. Iger was the one who introduced plans to aggressively expand the MCU franchise, calling for three Marvel movies a year plus multiple shows. It didn’t help that fans had to watch all of these to fully understand each release’s story and context, which led to many casual fans being turned off from the franchise. This oversaturation was also seen in the Star Wars franchise, where Iger similarly pushed for one Star Wars movie every year, plus its television shows.
The Marvels is now playing in theaters.
The Marvels
Carol Danvers teams up with Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan in The Marvels. As the three heroes find their powers entangled, they must work together to stop Dar-Benn from enacting her evil plan.
Source: Puck
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