Eternals may be marred by the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s only “rotten” score on review aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes, but it appears the film is resonating with audiences despite that fact.
We first got the news that the audience score on RT was way higher than the critics’ score and that momentum seems to building with the news that it had a rather strong box office opening in terms of Thursday preview receipts, at $9.5 million, according to Variety.
That figure is nothing to scoff it, it turns out, since it’s ahead of Shang-Chi‘s $8.8 million preview haul, meaning Eternals boasts the third-best preview result of the COVID era. The previews for Black Widow and Venom: Let There Be Carnage still fared better, however, with $13.2 million and $11.6 million respectively for their preview hauls. Internationally, Eternals has raked in $19.8 million over two days in 39 markets.
The film centers on 10 new heroes being introduced into the MCU who are immortal alien beings created by the god-like and colossal Celestials. Having lived on Earth for 7,000 years, the Eternals are the guardians of humankind, protecting them against the threat of the insidious Deviants and nudging humanity’s development in subtle ways throughout the centuries. Though the team of heroes had disbanded long ago, they must reunite for one final mission when the evil Deviants return.
The film marks director Chloe Zhao’s follow up to her Oscar-winning drama Nomadland and represents a milestone in representation for the MCU—featuring Marvel’s first openly gay character and its first deaf protagonist.
Eternals stars Gemma Chan, Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Brian Tyree Henry, Lauren Ridloff, Barry Keoghan, Richard Madden, and Kit Harington. You can catch it in theaters now.
