The opening weekend of Disney’s superhero adventure “The Marvels,” which grossed $63 million internationally and $110 million worldwide, is nothing to write home about.
Those numbers are well below expectations (before the weekend, Disney was hoping for $140 million or more, and even that wouldn’t have been great for the $220 million-budgeted tentpole) and rank as one of the worst global debuts in history from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The Marvels is the 33rd MCU film and the sequel to 2019’s billion-dollar behemoth Captain Marvel, which grossed $302 million internationally and $455 million worldwide. This film, which featured Brie Larson’s Carol Danvers, happened to be sandwiched between two of the biggest films of all time, 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War and 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
But there are other reasons for the brutal decline in ticket sales. “Captain Marvel” arrived at a time when the MCU — an unrivaled franchise that has grossed $30 billion worldwide in 15 years — could do no wrong at the box office. Since then, Disney has inundated viewers with countless spin-offs, sequels and television series on the big and small screen. “The Marvels” shows that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are, after all, mortals.
“The idea of universes being connected and characters moving between the big and small screens has created some disinterest among audiences,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior Comscore analyst.
Although none of the overseas territories stood out, China had the biggest start outside the US with a weak US$11.7 million, followed by the UK at US$4.3 million, Indonesia at US$3.7 million, Korea at 3 .5 million US dollars and France with 3.1 million US dollars. “The Marvels” also failed to resonate with Imax, as the premium format only grossed $5.6 million internationally and just $10 million worldwide.
Nia DaCosta (“Candyman”) directed “The Marvels,” which once again stars Larson as Captain Marvel and features Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel. As in the 32 films before it, the trio of heroes is tasked with saving the universe from forces that want to destroy it. “The Marvels” wasn’t well received by critics (it sits at 63% on Rotten Tomatoes), although reviewers praised the loose runtime (it’s the shortest MCU film to date) and Vellani’s performance as Ms. Marvel.
Disney boss Bob Iger recently promised a return to quality rather than quantity in future films. The studio has time to reevaluate, as for now Deadpool 3 is the only MCU film on the 2024 calendar.
“After decades of unwavering fan loyalty, the superhero genre appears to be at a crossroads and a reassessment of what will draw audiences to the multiplex is in order,” adds Paul Dergarabedian. “Wonder [is a] It is a massive brand that continues to appeal to audiences around the world, but new strategies may need to be introduced to ensure future success.”