Sony’sMorbiusended its opening weekend atop the domestic box office, generating modest numbers despite the negative reviews that accompanied its theatrical release. The Jared Leto-led film ended the weekend with an accumulated $39 million total, enough to dethrone last week’s domestic box office winner,The Lost City.
The Daniel Espinosa film is the latest comic book outing from Sony’s cast ofSpider-Mancharacters. The story centers around Doctor Michael Morbius and his attempt to cure himself of a rare blood disease. While successful in his attempt,Morbiushad to face the consequences of his actions when he recklessly infected himself with vampire-like abilities. The film carried momentum early in the beginning stages of its promotional rollout, but consistent delays to the release window hindered its initial appeal.Morbiuswas scheduled to releasein July 2020 but shifted its premiere due to the ongoing pandemic. After almost two years of constant pushbacks, Sony eventually settled on an April 1st release for the film.
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The budget Sony established for the Leto-led film sat roughly around $75 million, which the project was able to earn back with the combined generated revenue from the domestic and international box office. This past Friday,Morbius' opening resultedin $17.3 million, which diminished somewhat Saturday as the film ended the night with a generated $13.2 million total. Sunday saw the most significant dip throughout the weekend, which saw the Espinosa project bring in a decent $8.6 million, propelling its domestic total to $39.1 million. Overseas the narrative performed well, earning $44.9 million, bringing its comprehensive total worldwide to $84 million.
While the box office numbers generated byMorbiusare respectable, the reception the film received paints a very different picture.Morbiusentered into its Friday theatrical release with a dismal 17% percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, showcasing the disappointment critics felt for a film that failed to hit the mark. The audience score came in at 70% percent, which differs significantly from recent superhero offerings that arrived in theaters. Marvel Studios and Sony’sSpider-Man: No Way Homeearned a 98% rating from audiences, while Warner Bros.The Batmanearned a notable 88% rating.Morbius, unfortunately, wasn’t the experience many envisioned, but the popular comic book genre continues to push audiences into theaters.
Compared to the box office performance of recent superhero films, however, the $39 million total fails to show what audiences are capable of when motivated accurately.Spider-Man: No Way Homehad the second-biggest box office debut in history after the film earned an accumulated total of $260 million at the end of its opening weekend.The Batmanequally did well, making $128 million to round out its premiere theatrical weekend. While audiences were motivated to turn out for the newest Sony outing, it’s clear that early reviews prompted many to skiptheMorbiusorigin narrative. It’s unclear what the future holds for the vampiric character, but post-credit scenes point toward more Leto in the coming years.
Films have statistically seen a decrease in box office revenue in the weekends that follow a premiere, which indicated thatMorbiusmight ultimately be an unimpressive outing for Sony.Kraven the HunterandMadame Webare two films arrivingfrom Sony soon, and it’ll be interesting to see how they are received. The casting news for the two films has sparked a tremendous amount of excitement, but if the product is unwatchable, some audiences may decide to sit the adventure out.Morbiusproved that audiences would show up due to the genre’s appeal, but it equally noted the power of good storytelling and what poor execution can do to a film’s overall output.
