Sony Pictures' Marvel adaptation Morbius landed with dismal reviews but still managed to debut with $39.1 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. That was enough to easily hand the film, which stars Jared Leto as a vampire-transforming biochemist, the top spot at the box office—even though it was an uncharacteristically low debut for a Marvel movie. Sony's last movie to launch a Marvel character, 2018's Venom, opened in 2018 with double the ticket sales. But then, the AP reports, Morbius drew unusually bad reviews for a Marvel release.
On Rotten Tomatoes, it sits with easily the worst score for a Marvel film at 17% fresh. Forecasts had ranged closer to a $50 million opening weekend for Morbius. "This is a weak opening by Marvel's exceptional standard for launching a new superhero series," said David A. Gross, who runs the consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. "The weekend figure is well below average for a Marvel first episode, and below average compared with a DC Comics new series, as well." Still, Morbius, delayed several times by the pandemic, was budgeted somewhat modestly for a comic-book film, costing $75 million to produce.
Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- Morbius, $39.1 million.
- The Lost City, $14.8 million.
- The Batman, $10.8 million.
- Uncharted, $3.6 million.
- Jujutsu Kaisen 0, $1.9 million.
- RRR, $1.6 million.
- Spider-Man: No Way Home, $1.4 million.
- Dog, $1.3 million.
- X, $1 million.
- Everything Everywhere All at Once, $1 million.
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