After suffering the worst second-weekend drop of any MCU film, The Marvels is in danger of finishing its theatrical run as the lowest-grossing Marvel Studios movie of all time.
Based on the latest stats, the Nia DaCosta-directed Captain Marvel sequel is expected to end its box office run somewhere between $210 million and $240 million worldwide. This would not only mean it'll fail to make back its reported $270 million budget (before marketing/promotion costs), but it would also come in under the current lowest-earner, The Incredible Hulk ($265 million).
It's crazy to think that a sequel to one of the studio's biggest success stories (Captain Marvel took in over $1 billion worldwide) might emerge as its biggest flop, but here we are.
What does this mean for the MCU? We wouldn't be writing off the franchise just yet, but it does seem clear that general audiences simply haven't been as invested in The Multiverse Saga as they were the Infinity Saga, so Kevin Feige is almost certainly planning to make some changes going forward - even if it's not something he'd acknowledge publicly.
What did you make of The Marvels? Are you surprised that it's been performing so badly? Drop us a comment down below.
"The Marvels is far from the best Marvel Studios has to offer, but it's difficult not to get swept up in its infectious energy... to a point," we said in our review. "A disjointed third act lets it down, but a game cast and plenty of fun/funny moments elevate it above more lacklustre MCU fare (we're looking at you, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumnia)."
"In Marvel Studios’ The Marvels, Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel has reclaimed her identity from the tyrannical Kree and taken revenge on the Supreme Intelligence. But unintended consequences see Carol shouldering the burden of a destabilized universe. When her duties send her to an anomalous wormhole linked to a Kree revolutionary, her powers become entangled with that of Jersey City super-fan Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel, and Carol’s estranged niece, now S.A.B.E.R. astronaut Captain Monica Rambeau. Together, this unlikely trio must team up and learn to work in concert to save the universe as The Marvels.”
The film also stars Zawe Ashton and Park Seo-joon. Nia DaCosta directs, and Kevin Feige is the producer. Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Mary Livanos and Matthew Jenkins serve as executive producers. The screenplay is by Megan McDonnell, Nia DaCosta, Elissa Karasik and Zeb Wells.