Sony and Marvel’s “Morbius” has followed in the path of pretty much everything with the Marvel name attached to it in the past few years – namely opening in first place at the U.S. domestic box-office.
Outside of “Spider-Man,” the three films of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe (SSU) initiative so far haven’t been critically well-received with “Morbius” in particular slammed with terrible reviews – scoring just 17% on Rotten Tomatoes and a dismal C+ CinemaScore from audiences.
So, unsurprisingly the film pulled in just $39 million in the U.S. from Friday to Sunday, whilst its overseas haul will add a further $44.9 million to that – bringing its total to $84 million.
That’s slightly better than the studio expected, but the domestic opening was just half that of “Venom” several years ago and one of the worst openings for a Marvel film to date.
With a reigned in $75 million production budget, the film will likely do well enough to make a profit for Sony. However, like “Uncharted” before it, the numbers aren’t likely to end up high enough for them to justify rushing forward on a sequel.
Sony is pushing ahead though with its SSU plans with “Kraven the Hunter” early next year whilst “Madame Web” and “Nightwatch” films are on the horizon.
The Bullock-Tatum led romantic action-adventure “The Lost City” came in second with a strong $14.8 million, whilst “The Batman” was third with a further $10.8 million. Domestically the Robert Pattinson-led film has grossed $349 million and globally it stands at $710 million after a month.
“Uncharted” was fourth with another $3.6 million domestically, bringing its total to $138.9 million domestic and $373 million globally, and “Jujutsu Kaisen 0” took fifth place and has grossed $31 million globally thus far.
Cinemas start getting crowded again soon though with the “Sonic the Hedgehog” sequel opening this coming Friday in the U.S. after its debut this weekend in select markets, whilst the third “Fantastic Beasts” film arrives the week after.
Source: Variety
