To say it’s been a roller-coaster trying to figure out how The Marvels is going to fare at the box office would be an understatement, with the latest data painting a picture that’s less than rosy yet again.
Having been labeled as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s cheapest movie ever, those forecasting a huge drop-off in earnings compared to its $1.1 billion predecessor breathed a sigh of relief knowing that the road to profitability just got a lot clearer… until it turned out it was actually one of the franchise’s costliest.
Opening weekend estimates have ranged from a new MCU low that would outstrip the unwanted record The Incredible Hulk has held in its vice-like grip since 6 weeks after the superhero sandbox first launched to a much better but still not great $85 million, while anything under $70 million would make it the first feature-length blockbuster since 2015’s Ant-Man to debut under that number.
The latest pre-sale tracking highlights that The Marvels is lagging behind both Black Adam and The Flash, with each of the DC adaptations going down in the history books as a hefty bomb. Carrying roughly the same price tag as Nia DaCosta’s sequel, a three-day bow between $55 million and $67 million could be on the cards if the comparison follows through.
However, should it come in below that, then it might even end up as the lowest-grossing premiere for a movie featuring a hero known as Captain Marvel since Shazam! Fury of the Gods. Zachary Levi’s debut notched $53.5 million back in April of 2019, so it isn’t 100 percent out of the question for Brie Larson to sink beneath that tally, but it would be an unmitigated disaster for obvious reasons.
Of course, the MCU is known to pull it out of the bag against all odds so the chances of it happening are very slim, but the danger is there nonetheless.
