Marvel Studios’ “The Marvels” has broken a record, but not the good kind. The Brie Larson-starring superhero flick had a first weekend of $47 million, the worst opening in MCU history. These numbers actually make “Ant Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” look like a success.
It’s a notable turn of events considering the predecessor, “Captain Marvel,” was the highest grossing female superhero action film. What’s even worse for Disney is that “The Marvels” didn’t come cheap — its budget is said to have been around $270 million.
The CinemaScore grade for “The Marvels” was a tepid “B” grade. So, the media can’t even blame review Bombing — audiences didn’t seem to be impressed by the movie. “The Marvels” is now projected to end its domestic run at around $150 million (if it’s lucky).
Will this colossal failure be enough to wake up Disney? There are already some folks blaming the strike and lack of promotion by actors, and you should absolutely not buy this excuse. It is exactly that: an excuse. Variety & The Wrap are already using this narrative!
But as one tracking source tells Deadline, “I can’t imagine that the complete absence of Brie Larson on The Marvels campaign tour has cost the sequel $106M in its opening from the first film. Surely, there’s something else going on.”
The truth is that there are plenty of people now sick of the superhero genre and Disney’s endless greed. Call it “market saturation,” if you will. That’s why the mouse house has put the MCU on pause — only one Marvel movie is set for release next year (“Deadpool 3”).
I don’t believe Marvel superfans have left the bandwagon, one look at the MCU subreddit and you realize these guys will eat up just about anything that Kevin Feige feed them. No, the difference-makers this time around, the ones who contributed the most to Marvel’s downfall, were regular non-fanboy moviegoers who, just a few years ago, might have bought a ticket to “The Marvels.” This time they didn’t.
The Deadline headline says it best (“The Marvels’ Meltdown”). You are going to be reading plenty of reasons, in an endless amount of think-pieces, as to why “The Marvels” failed so gloriously. The usual excuses (“superhero fatigue,” “lack of promotion”) will be touted as the reasons why, but it’s much more than that. Call it “audience awareness.” Maybe folks are finally waking up to the con.