Summary
AsThe Marvels' box office run approaches its end, the embattled Marvel Cinematic Universe project has come upon another unfortunate distinction to crown its time at the box office, causing Marvel Studios' parent company to turn away from theCaptain Marvelsequel.
Captain Marvel 2showed promise on paper, sporting a unique premise and being the sequel to the highly successfulCaptain Marvel, which crossed the coveted billion-dollar mark at the box office. However, the film was troubled even before it was released, with reports of backstage issues and a disheartening record for the MCU’s most disliked trailer when its first promo dropped. This bad start led to conservative box office predictions, which came true whenThe Marvelsopened to a record-low MCU box office. While this was a significant blow, there was some small hope of a comeback, as the end of the actors' strikes meant that the film’s stars could finally help promote the movie.
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Unfortunately, this comeback was nowhere to be seen, asThe Marvelssaw a second-weekend dropsurpassing any MCU film, cementing the film’s grim fate at the box office. PerExhibitor Relations Co., the film’s current total earnings of $80.7 million domestically and $116.3 internationally (totaling $197 million) put it down as the lowest-grossing MCU film of all time, a potential mark of shame that hung over the film from the moment it saw record-low Thursday box office totals. Even ifThe Marvelsends its theatrical run with $210 million worldwide (viaThe Hollywood Handle), it would still fail to beatThe Incredible Hulk,which was the MCU’s worst film on multiple metrics beforeThe Marvelsbeat it.
Marvel Studios' parent organization, The Walt Disney Company, released a statement declaring an end to the company’s weekend reporting onThe Marvelsgross, only four weeks into the film’s disastrous theatrical run. “With The Marvels box office now winding down, we will stop weekend reporting of international/global grosses on this title,” reads the statement. This decision was likely made to distance the company and stars from the discourse surrounding the film’s poor performance, a problem that even sawStephen King call out reactions toThe Marvelsthat seemed to celebrate the film’s failure.
It’s now pretty clear that the amount thatThe Marvelsneeds to gross to break even at the box office is far out of reach for the film, with all potential steam gone out of its theatrical run. This is a disaster for Marvel Studios, as this magnitude of failure for a big-budget film can’t be good for the bottom line and doesn’t help the discourse surrounding the MCU’s current decline in performance. WhileDisney boss Bob Iger blamedThe Marvels' box office crashon COVID-19’s impact on set supervision, it’s undeniable that the issue is more extensive than just one project, withGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3being the only recent project that had the same shine as the MCU’s heyday.
With Disney not reporting on it anymore andAquaman 2projected to do worse at the box office,The Marvelsmight soon be out of the public conversation. However, how Marvel Studios will learn and rebound from this bad patch remains to be seen. Kevin Feige’s previous strategies for fixing fatigue haven’t worked, and it might be too late to salvage the company’s current phase.
The Marvelsis 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.
