Highlights
- The Marvels' Thursday preview ticket sales were disappointing, indicating a likely rough opening weekend for the film.
- Previous MCU films like The Eternals and Thor: Dark World had higher preview sales, while The Marvels barely surpassed Ant Man's low sales.
- The film's marketing strategy, including featuring clips of Iron Man and Captain America, did not have much effect in attracting old MCU fans to see the movie.
The Marvels' Thursday preview ticket sales are in, and they are not pretty, affirming previous reports that the film is headed for a rough opening weekend.
The Marvels' predecessor, Captain Marvel, performed fantastically at the box office, bringing in over $1.1 billion worldwide with a $153 million opening weekend in the US. However, that was in 2019, when Marvel Studios was still riding the massive wave started by The Avengers films. While the MCU is certainly still a healthy franchise, it has taken some hits since Captain America and Co. took the world by storm, and Captain Marvel 2 is the latest to experience this.
Per Deadline, The Marvels managed to earn only $6.6 million in Thursday preview ticket sales. This is one of the worst-performing preview days seen from an MCU movie in recent times. $6.6 million comes in at lower than other misfires from the franchise, such as The Eternals and Thor: Dark World, which previewed at $9.5 million and $7.1 million, respectively, and were released in November. The new film beat out Ant-Man's low preview sales of $6.4 million, but barely.
Previous reports indicated that The Marvels was headed for rough waters at the box office. This was forecast for multiple reasons, including reports of troublesome reshoots, poor test screening responses, the recent SAG-AFTRA strike, and inconsistent marketing. It was worried that if The Marvels' preview ticket sales fell to $6 million, it could see an opening weekend of only $40 million. Now that the preview sales are confirmed at $6.6 million, only time will tell if that dire prediction comes true this weekend.
Marvel Studios made some telling decisions in the lead-up to this week's release of The Marvels. In a departure from previous marketing, The Marvels' final trailer featured clips of Iron Man and Captain America cut from previous Avengers movies. With the two characters not being involved in The Marvels, some fans thought it seemed like a desperate grab to sway old MCU fanatics into seeing the movie. The strategy doesn't seem to have had much effect.
Following the box office success of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the MCU still has plenty of fans willing to buy tickets and propel new releases to the top of the box office. Although it appears that won't happen with The Marvels, MCU fans still have plenty of reason to be optimistic about the beloved franchise. A weak box office result with The Marvels may encourage Marvel Studios to get even more creative with future projects.
The Marvels is now playing in theaters.
The Marvels
Carol Danvers teams up with Monica Rambeau and Kamala Khan in The Marvels. As the three heroes find their powers entangled, they must work together to stop Dar-Benn from enacting her evil plan.
- Release Date
- November 10, 2023
- Director
- Nia DaCosta
- Cast
- Brie Larson , Teyonah Parris , Iman Vellani , Zawe Ashton , Samuel L. Jackson
- Runtime
- 105 Minutes
- Studio
- Marvel Studios
- Franchise
- MCU
Source: Deadline
