While Marvel’s Thunderbolts underperformed in theaters, the film has now apparently found an audience once it became “free” to stream on Disney+ as of August 27th, according to viewership data.
Disney+ Surge
According to Samba TV, Thunderbolts pulled in 105% more viewers during its first six days on Disney+ than it did in the same period on PVOD.
That’s a clear sign that fans waited to watch it on Disney+ as part of their subscription – basically for free – instead of paying extra at the theaters or through VOD. It also shows that fans weren’t in a hurry to watch it.
“Must see” Marvel has become a thing of the past as Kevin Feige’s post-Endgame approach has failed to become a hit with fans.
Nielsen also reported the movie hit 702 million minutes viewed, ranking #9 on the Overall charts and #3 on the Top Ten Movies list.
Box Office Struggle
Theatrical numbers show just how weak the movie’s run was compared to typical Marvel releases:
- Domestic: $190,274,328 (49.8%)
- International: $192,162,589 (50.2%)
- Worldwide: $382,436,917
Similar to Captain America
For comparison, Captain America: Brave New World launched on Disney+ with 750 million minutes viewed, taking the #1 spot on the Top Ten Movies charts at the time.
Brave New World also bombed with a $415.1M box office, so we see lots of fans waited to see that film for free, too.
What’s next?
It will be interesting to see how well The Fantastic Four: First Steps performs on Disney+ (likely November release), as FF also bombed at the box office, but at least performed better than Cap 4 and Thunderbolts with $520 million.
If Fantastic Four performs even better, it’s a clear sign that fans are waiting to watch these Marvel films for “free” on Disney+ instead of going to theaters or paying extra through VOD.
And again, it’s also a sign the Marvel brand isn’t what it used to be.
