According to the estimates, the sequel to the billion-dollar Captain Marvel is estimated to open to 50% less at $75 to $80 million at the box office opening weekend.
The info comes from Deadline who of course attempts to make excuses and blames the strike for the actors not being allowed to promote the movie.
However, the directors and producers can still promote things, but as we recently saw, director Nia DaCosta threw Kevin Feige under the bus in a train wreck of an interview and had nothing good to say about working at Marvel other than she was surprised by how well the white dudes at Marvel treated her (seriously). Did she say anything positive about the cast or the movie? Nope. Have the producers said anything? Crickets.
Sister site THR is also citing superhero fatigue, but it’s not superhero fatigue to blame, it’s fatigue of the lack of quality.
Captain Marvel opened to over $150 million back in 2019 so this will be another big bust for Kevin Feige following Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantimania which did manage to open to $100 million.
It will be Marvel’s lowest opening since Eternals was released, also in November, back in 2021 which opened to $71M (Ant-Man is the lowest at $57M back in 2015).
There is actually a question if The Marvels could open less at the box office as ticket sales have been said to be not all that good. It’s said presales have been only a third of Guardians of the Galaxy 3, which would mean The Marvels could actually open to less than $40M if the low amount of ticket sales hold. Ticket sales are also said to be lower than DC’s The Flash which mega-bombed and that Marvel is freaking out about it.
Regarding why the low ticket sales and box office for The Marvels, let’s be honest:
- There are no Avengers movies to sandwich the flick
- Brie Larson shot herself in the foot with all her political and white dude comments (she’s now said to be disillusioned with playing Captain Marvel)
- The Marvels has no testosterone
- And none of the characters are popular: Ms. Marvel is the least-watched MCU show on Disney+ and the character has been shoved down our throats so much you can’t even tell it’s there anymore
Deadline also adds:
- Marketing and promotion for the film started late
- Sources are telling Deadline that audiences aren’t connecting the Captain Marvel IP to the other two characters in the franchise which starred in Ms. Marvel and WandaVision
- The Marvels is well below the top-performing MCU titles among men under 35 and much closer to Ant-Man in the demo
- Current comps are also against Thor, Black Adam, and The Flash
- In men and women under 35, Captain Marvel is pacing behind Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in overall interest
If The Marvels does open on the lower side of things, that doesn’t necessarily mean the flick will bomb.
Due to the downfall of the MCU, James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy 3 opened soft, but thanks to word of mouth, the flick performed well at the box office.
Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, Teyonah Parris, and Nia DaCosta — you gals have any legs?