As expected, the power of Marvel may be just the Infinity Stone needed to revive the moviegoing experience. It all started on Thursday night when Black Widow earned $13.2 million from preview screenings, the highest since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. By the end of the weekend, the Scarlett Johansson-starring solo pic will take in an estimated $80M, another record high post-pandemic. The film was simultaneously released on Disney+ as a Premier Access title (meaning subscribers had to pay an extra $30). Reportedly, subscribers in the United States paid about $20 million, and worldwide, the film generated approximately $60 million through Disney+. (Note: That won’t factor into the numbers reported below.)
All-in-all, Disney is announcing that Black Widow made over $215M this weekend. $80M from North American ticket sales, $78M internationally, and $60M from Disney+ Premier Access. This is the first time Disney has publicly disclosed its Disney+ Premier Access numbers to the public. Guess they want everyone to know who’s boss.
This is the first weekend post-pandemic when the domestic box office will generate over $100M, with an estimated $117M. That’s the best performance since 2020’s President’s Day weekend, which was pre-pandemic and was fronted by the success of Sonic the Hedgehog.
As for Black Widow, it is certified fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, with a great 80% positive. Exiting audiences gave it an A- via CinemaScore. That’s… good. But Marvel movies are usually bigger crowdpleasers and typically earn a solid A. Black Widow ranks on par with Ant-Man and the Wasp, Thor: The Dark World, and Captain America: The First Avenger. (Those still did better than the first Thor which only received a B+… but we all know that was better than The Dark World! Take these exit polls with a grain of salt. We ALL love movies more when we see them in a theater with a packed house.) The critical reviews are positive, but not glowing.
It DOES appear that the less-than-emphatic reactions are scaring some people away. That, plus lingering COVID-19 concerns. But at least the reaction has been better than that to Wonder Woman 1984.
Elsewhere, F9, in the #2 spot, has now crossed $140.9M at the domestic box office, in its third weekend. A Quiet Place Part II, now in its seventh weekend, has grossed over $150.8M.
Check out this weekend’s Top Five below:
- Black Widow (Disney) – $80M
- F9 (Universal) – $10.88M
- The Boss Baby: Family Business (Universal) – $8.7M
- The Forever Purge (Universal) – $6.7M
- A Quiet Place Part II (Paramount) – $3M
Unfortunately, due to the fact that people aren’t gushing about their love for Black Widow, the film may not have the strongest legs in the coming weeks. This coming weekend, Warner Bros. is releasing a movie they are hyping up hard– Space Jam: A New Legacy. Pre-reactions to this have been mixed as ’90s kids don’t get why they felt the need to remake this. Whereas it appeared that Disney had lightened up on its marketing for Black Widow in the past few weeks, Warner Bros. is going HARD on Space Jam. Will all the McDonald’s Happy Meal toys and breakfast cereal result in folks flocking to multiplexes to see this animation/live-action hybrid?
Well… check back next week and find out!
