Disney's latest superhero spectacle, 'The Marvels,' emerged as the victor at the weekend box office, but the victory is bittersweet. Despite raking in an estimated $47 million in North American ticket sales through November 12, the film faced the lowest opening ever for a Marvel Studios superhero release.
This lackluster debut puts 'The Marvels' in the company of other underperformers like 'The Incredible Hulk' (2008) and 'Ant-Man' (2015), signaling a significant setback for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). The figures pale in comparison to this year's 'Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' ($106 million) and 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' ($118 million).
The subpar opening is attributed to Disney's struggle to market the film effectively due to an actors' strike, which concluded on November 10. Moreover, it suggests a potential saturation of the Marvel brand, exacerbated by the continuous release of original series on Disney+.
This downturn starkly contrasts with the pre-pandemic glory of 2019 when Marvel movies played a pivotal role in Disney's record $11 billion box office success.
Disney CEO Bob Iger hinted at this disappointment during the recent fiscal call, admitting that the studio business had "lost some focus" in 2023.
On a different note, Universal Pictures/Blumhouse's horror flick 'Five Nights at Freddy’s' secured the second position with an additional $9 million in ticket sales, surpassing $127 million in its three-week North American run. An impressive feat considering the movie had been available for free streaming on the Peacock platform.
Rounding off the top three was the Taylor Swift/The Eras Tour concert film, pulling in almost $6 million in ticket sales. Swift's production has accumulated a substantial $172.5 million at the North American box office, outshining Paramount Pictures' highly anticipated 'Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One' ($172 million) and 'Transformers: Rise of the Beasts' with $157 million in ticket sales. This concert documentary now claims the 12th spot among the year's top domestic releases, just trailing 'Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,' according to Box Office Mojo.
