Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Box Office

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ Passes $400M Globally and Beats ‘Ant-Man’s Domestic Run

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ Passes $400M Globally and Beats ‘Ant-Man’s Domestic Run

    All eyes are on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s box office run, some with shock and others with glee. The film faced a record second-weekend drop that is slightly above Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s back in 2016. With a B CinemaScore and rather mild word-of-mouth, the film was the focus of many deliberations over the end of Marvel Studios’ reign at the box office. Still, the film is performing and isn’t as big as it could’ve been.

    As of now, the film saw a smaller international drop in its third weekend compared to the domestic performance as it pulled in $22M in 52 markets. That is a 53% drop and a bit of a better hold than the 61% we saw domestically at $12M+. As such, the film stands domestically at $186.7M and internationally at $232.7M. Worldwide the film is now at $419.5M and is still expected to pass $500M worldwide going by Deadline’s current expectations while others believe it might barely miss that benchmark.

    That would align with our early predictions after the second-week drop, which was expecting the film to land somewhere between $500M to $550M, though it is now leaning towards the former. That would put it below the international box office of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which pulled in $632M and it’s even more uncertain if it’ll beat Ant-Man‘s $519M worldwide.

    We also can’t forget how different the comparisons are if you take China’s overall slump as a factor in how the film is performing. Ant-Man‘s 518M run consisted of 105M in China. So, the film technically made around 413M without that specific market. Ant-Man and the Wasp similarly pulled in 120M in China, which would set it at 503M. If the film wraps up at around 40M in China and plays around the 500M mark, it’ll still have made quite a bit more than the first entry, though that 200M budget is just what is hurting the film at this point.

    It’s the “risk” that they took by going big and bold with this Ant-Man film, which may simply just have had some take a step back in this rather different direction for the franchise. As such, it’s uncertain just how much money they invested in the marketing, as if they went 100M, they’d have to at least hit 600M to technically break even as they make around half from box office tickets. It’s something only expected with high-budget investments. Though, they made enough last year to balance it out somewhat.

    What is definite though is that domestically the threequel has passed the first Ant-Man‘s $180M entire domestic run by its third weekend. It’s definitely not as far as it could’ve gone if the film’s domestic hold was stronger, but it’s not a complete loss due to the film still performing decently. It’s a similar discussion point that we saw with the first Ant-Man film when it opened to a tepid $57M and was called a flop after releasing in the wake of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

    Ironically, Age of Ultron was also the focus of a similar discussion point when it opened below the first Avengers film. Even though it “only” managed to pull in $1.4B compared to The Avengers‘ still impressive $1.5B back in 2012. While it’s different circumstances overall, especially with the higher investment in Quantumania outshining previous entries, it’s always been a discussion point on the staying power of Marvel studios at the box office if a slight drop happens.

    The main point still remains that the fatigue discussion and “end of Marvel” existed ever since 2015 and likely won’t ever end. 2021 releases still performed incredibly well even with B+ scores, and Marvel Studios may have taken too big of a step with the usual smaller Ant-Man franchise. No matter where one stands on its quality, it’s definitely a bigger jump for one of Marvel Studios’ various franchises that just didn’t quite pay off.

    The long-forgotten aspect of Marvel movies is also that not everyone watches every single entry. So, if this truly will echo for future entries remains to be seen as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 seems like a sure-fire release this summer and The Marvels‘ could still pull in quite an audience if it manages to reverse the current “B” CinemaScore trend. It may be fatigue, it may not be but Eternals‘ dominance on Disney+ after a soft (and another risky release) during the pandemic may hint at the overall “heard it’s alright, let’s wait for it to hit Disney+” mentality echoing out of the 45-day release window.

    If this film has strong Disney+ numbers once it releases on the platform, we are definitely looking at a trend. Marvel Studios films will open big but require a much stronger reception to stick around in theaters due to the certainty of a free streaming release. We might be seeing an aftermath of the pandemic that is easily overshadowed but not forgotten when looking at Strange Worlds and Lightyear. If Disney was smart, they’d pull another Wakanda Forever and just refuse to release it anytime soon; something Bog Iger and Kevin Feige might be pushing as a back to the old norm with Bob Chapek out of the picture.

    Source: Deadline, The Numbers (Ant-Man), The Numbers (Avengers), The Numbers (Ant-Man 2), Twitter

  • ‘Creed 3’ Knocks Out With $58M+ Opening Weekend

    ‘Creed 3’ Knocks Out With $58M+ Opening Weekend

    The numbers are down and it looks like Creed 3 is ready for a knockout this weekend. The MGM and Amazon Studios produced film is now the highest-grossing Rocky and Creed entry of the franchise, which bodes well for the franchise’s future. The biggest aspect is that the film is poised to pull in $150M over its run putting git ahead of the first two entries and marking a big move forward for Michael B. Jordan‘s directorial debut. As of now, it is also the highest debut ever for a sports film.

    Amazon recently purchased MGM which had some worried that this might end up with a too quick streaming turnaround, but this performance may force Amazon to rethink that strategy and could become another long-term showcase of the importance of theatrical releases. Marvel Studios and Disney’s animated fare have taken quite a bit of damage from the “45-day” streaming window with strong frontloading for the former and a general lack of visits for the latter. Either way, Creed 3 is making a powerful stand and may hopefully also make Netflix realize what they missed out on with Glass Onion during Thanksgiving.

    It also was a smart move to move the film away from Wakanda Forever, as it was originally set for Thanksgiving and got the chance to open the March market which has more staying power than the usual calm February (with some exceptions like the strong openers of Deadpool, Black Panther, and recently Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumnania). March is going to be a competitive market that may push the overall box office for this year forward even if projections still don’t see a return to 2019’s bombastic era.

    Another strong performance this weekend was Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer Into the Swordsmith Village, which pulled in $10.1M. It’s interesting how strong the Friday openings are for Anime openings as it calms down heavily over the weekend after they moved from $4.1M to $3.4M on Saturday. The big ouch of the weekend is the long-awaited opening for Guy Richtie‘s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre which only opened to $3.1M opening.

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania held on as much as it could ending the weekend with $12M, which isn’t going to break any records but does mean the film simply hasn’t had the same hold as other pictures. It’s developing closer to Batman v Superman domestically without a much stronger international push. While many are going to call this “the end”, it simply shows an interesting trend. Marvel films are strong openers and extremely frontloaded but if word-of-mouth simply is tepid or mixed, most will wait for that Disney+ release. Plus, the heavy sci-fi direction ma simply just does not jell with the usual “simplicity” of a former palate cleanser franchise.

    Still, Cocaine Bear took the third spot after a decent second weekend. It’s B- CinemaScore didn’t hit it too hard as it still held on for a genre piece which usually drops 60% or worse on the second weekend but it may still be holding on to some online fanfare. We haven’t had a good or just pure “fun” slasher in a while, which may be pushing the film further even as the general audience has mixed feelings about the offering. Overall, still a strong weekend overall for the box office.

    Source: Deadline, Variety

  • ‘Creed 3’ Heading for Franchise’s Best Opening

    ‘Creed 3’ Heading for Franchise’s Best Opening

    Michael B. Jordan is set to make his directorial debut in style, as Creed III is heading to theaters this weekend. To no one’s surprise, the film is set to take the weekend with a strong $36M, though with good word-of-mouth it could even go beyond $40M. As such, it’ll likely dethrone Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which beat out a cocaine-fueled bear last weekend.

    It should be noted that this would mark the best opening for the Creed trilogy, as the first opened at $29.6M and its sequel at around $35.5M. The MGM release is also the most expensive film at $75M, so it’ll definitely be interesting to see how far the film goes. It has a good chance to grow to beat the last film’s $214M domestic run. It also marks another big win for Jonathan Majors, who just appeared in Quantumania.

    The Ant-Man threequel is expected to hold on to the second spot with around $16M to $19M, but given its massive drop in the second weekend, for now predictions are more on the pessimistic side due tot he B CinemaScore and PostTrack rating. Though, the film is now performing more like an Ant-Man film than an Avengers-style release that could still give it a bit more momentum for the next few weeks before its biggest direct competition releases in Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

    Guy Ritchie‘s Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is also heading to theaters but is currently only on track for around $5M though it’s unclear if it’ll go higher given it received a more mixed critical reception. We also have Crunchyroll’s Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba: To the Swordsmith Village heading for a strong $7.5M over the weekend. Cocaine Bear and Jesus Revolution are also expected to have decent holds to round out the weekend. Expectations are they’ll hold on to $10M and $8M respectively.

    Source: Variety

  • ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Passes $300M Worldwide

    ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Passes $300M Worldwide

    All eyes are currently on that second-weekend drop for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, as it’s expected to potentially end up as the biggest drop for any Marvel Studios or even superhero film. There’s, of course, the chance that it’s weaker than expected Thursday may have ended up pulling expectations far back, as originally most expected something around 35M to 40M. Now, it’s uncertain where it’ll land above $30M.

    Naturally, the usual big superhero drop in its second weekend has the Internet going: “Marvel is dead” and the usual gloating about one singular film’s performance. It’s even happened with films that have performed quite well throughout the last year. So, there are also some positive things to report on that may get overshadowed in the usual discourse online.

    As of now, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has already passed the $300M box office benchmark worldwide. It currently stands at $143M domestically and $160M internationally, which means it pulled in a total of $303M as of this Friday. With the film likely set to wrap around 30M over the weekend there’s still a chance it’ll end its second weekend with $350M worldwide.

    Some might still be scratching their heads though on what exactly is going on. Even Eternals with a B rating had a stronger hold going into its second weekend. So, what exactly is the cause for Ant-Man 3‘s current drop in its second weekend? The film did perform quite well with younger audiences that only make up around 16% of its viewing basis. Cocaine Bear is likely to pull in young adults and especially male audiences that took a bigger chunk than expected, as that film is currently performing quite well on its Friday (doing even better than the Marvel entry).

    So, the audience just wasn’t as strong on a Friday as it could’ve been and the counter-programming had a bigger overlap than initially expected. February also hasn’t seen any major releases in quite some time since before the pandemic. So, the market is much harder to predict and this weekend is quite a bit softer than the previous one. There’s a massive blockbuster summer ahead and there’s a chance that “okay” or “just good” isn’t enough to keep viewers in theaters while they’re saving for what’s coming.

    Plus, the US saw quite a few strong storms, which may also have not really tempted people to leave for the theater as fast as possible, especially families. If these are a potential factor going into the weekend, they may potentially balance out in the third weekend but that depends on how this weekend generally goes.

    So, word-of-mouth not being as strong as it could’ve been is just holding the film back quite a bit more in a non-summer market. There’s also the question if Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania took too big of a step from what the general audience is used to. The first two films are very grounded and light-hearted offerings. So, the big major addition of Kang the Conqueror combined with a full-on weird sci-fi epic direction just was “too different” to really get people coming back.

    Thor: Love and Thunder had a similar drop in development when compared to just a better weekly performance due to its July release. Yet, it also was far more in the comedy direction when even compared to Thor: Ragnarok and previous films, which may have just left audiences having an issue connecting with what they expected to be another Thor film.

    Science fiction also has generally struggled at times, especially internationally in Eastern markets as highlighted by Deadline. Eternals had the luck that it had one of South Korea’s biggest actors as part of its main cast, which created a surprising boost even with its high sci-fi concept mixed with a more indie film approach. And it’s too early to even describe a $300M movie as a flop, as we’re only in its second weekend.

    Still, as pointed out by The Wrap, the film’s international box office in China hasn’t really left an impression with its $19.2M opening either. It’s also set for a harsher drop in that market but there’s generally a lot of momentum lost in that market for Hollywood productions over the pandemic. So, the film is only going to get a little boost out of it and likely won’t get anywhere near the other Ant-Man films in that market.

    As of now, we don’t know where the second weekend will end up and have no idea if the film might have a softer third weekend. If people rushed to the theaters to see Kang and the future of the MCU, they drop might be easier to explain as tepid word-of-mouth just didn’t add the “must watch now” replay value. Disney+’s 45-day strategy also hurt the industry and some might think it’s just worth waiting it out until it releases there.

    Marvel Studios might be smart and extend theatrical windows publicly to ensure audiences know the wait is going to be much longer, but they also may be reactionary to get it to the streaming service and it may even rival Eternals as one of the most viewed offerings on the service. So, if the film isn’t a seller on the first view, word-of-mouth is just harsher as post-Endgame expectations still remain at an all-time high; so let’s please not bring in Marvel fatigue to the discussion as the opening still hints at interest.

    If we try to predict with the data we have now, the film might likely have similar legs to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which would be a multiplier of 2.2. The Friday-to-Friday drop would match the 81%, as it currently stands at 82% unadjusted. So, if it manages to stay below the feared 70% drop, it could still somewhat leg out in its third weekend. With a similar projection, it could end up at around 230M domestically.

    It should be noted that its Thursday to Friday drop is better than Doctor Strange‘s at 119% vs. 111% but that was also during the summer. Thor: Love and Thunder had a 80% drop in its Friday-to-Friday but ended up with a much worse 68% drop in its second weekend. Quantumania still has some potential depending on Saturday to dodge that number. So, it could have surprisingly better legs with a multiplier of 2.35 like Love and Thunder. That would put it at around 250M. Worst case, it’s another Batman v Superman and we have a soft 2x multiplier and we end up slightly above 200M.

    So, there is potential that the film could end up between $500M and $550M with China included. The first Ant-Man made $518M but if you take out China actually only stands at 413M. Its sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp was slightly above $623M but without China is actually at 503M. So, if with Chinese box office likely ends up at around 40M, the film could end up making more than its previous entry with 510M. The budget is much higher at around a predicted $200M but it would still technically break even and make most of its profits through digital and physical sales.

    Source: The Numbers, The Wrap, The Numbers (Multiverse of Madness), The Numbers (Love and Thunder), The Numbers (Ant-Man), The Numbers (A&TW), The Guardian

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ May End its 2nd Weekend With Superhero Genre’s Biggest Drop Ever

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ May End its 2nd Weekend With Superhero Genre’s Biggest Drop Ever

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania still had some momentum leaving its first week with a strong Monday holiday, but quickly slipped throughout the week to Marvel’s second-worst Thursday at 3.7M only beating Thor: The Dark World. Now, the second weekend has finally started and while most expected it to move around 60% to 65%, we’re about to face a much harsher weekend for the Marvel Studios latest than expected.

    The film has been overshadowed by Cocaine Bear going into its Friday, which pulled in a strong $8.65M including Thursday previews against Ant-Man 3 that pulled in $8.3M (a harsh 82% drop which is higher than that of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). Of course, it technically is behind Quantumania but gets that premiere Thursday boost. Still, the film is expected to open above $20M at this rate and is looking to showcase the staying power for some bloody good action in theaters.

    Right behind it is Jesus Revolution which has a very strong audience performance and is also expected to open strongly thanks to its faith-based core audience. Both are still not expected to dethrone Ant-Man this weekend but the film is set to potentially drop between 67% to 72%. Right now, everyone is losing a bit of faith and believes the drop might be on the harsher end, which would make it the biggest drop for any Marvel Studios film and potentially even superhero films in general.

    So, what exactly is going on? The Friday drop was a harsh 82% and now has the third lowest second Friday, as it still is holding better than Eternals and Black Widow, but it also had a bigger opening than both. Right now, the question is if it’ll still manage 30M or surprise with 35M after all after that sharp drop. The lowest holder of the second-weekend drop is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at 69.1%, which adds to the weight if this film will even stick around below 70%. So far, the only blockbuster that had this high of a drop was the last Harry Potter film at 72%.

    It’s hard to say but word-of-mouth isn’t really pushing it as strongly as it could. There’s a chance that most that weren’t fully sold on the film are just going to wait for the Disney+ release and that is why there’s no rush to see it in theaters, as with 3 1/2 PostTrack rating it wasn’t deemed terrible just didn’t sell audiences on it being a must-watch (mixed word-of-mouth doesn’t always translate to terrible film). We’ll have to see where it truly lands this weekend as it’s expected to have a better Saturday but at best it might rival Thor: Love and Thunder‘s weekend drop which was 67.7%.

    Source: Twitter, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Numbers

  • ‘Cocaine Bear’ Rages to Strong $2M Thursday Previews

    ‘Cocaine Bear’ Rages to Strong $2M Thursday Previews

    It’s going to be an exciting weekend for counterprogramming, as while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is still expected to dominate the weekend, we have two projects trying to make an impression going into the weekend. The one with everyone’s eyes on it is the dark comedy Cocaine Bear directed by Elizabeth Banks (not a joke).

    It’s already off to a strong start with $2M in its Thursday previews. It also has a strong 82% on Rotten Tomatoes with a PostTrak of four stars. It’s likely to join the B horror CinemaScore club alongside M3GAN, which was a standout release earlier this year as counter-programming.

    It should also be noted that the film is higher than Violent Night‘s $1.1.M which managed to grow to $49.8M in the States but not quite M3GAN‘s $2.75M in previews. The former had a strong $13M opening while M3GAN pulled in a 30M opening weekend. So, a potential $20M does seem possible though most predictions still have it at around $15M to $17M. Still, the film based on a true story (also no joke) is going to make a splash at the box office an continue Universal’s steady release of mid-range films pulling strong numbers during the pandemic.

    The only other big opening this weekend is the faith-based Jesus Revolution. It stands at a five-star PostTrak and it has pulled in $2M in its Wednesday previews and added $940K on Thursday. So, it technically pulled in $3.3M since Wednesday but it’ll likely end the weekend at $10M.

    Still, all eyes are on how Quantumania will perform in its second weekend, as while it already stands at $135M domestically, it did not have a robust week after a rather sturdy $14.2M Presidents Day Monday. So, either most of its audiences showed up on the extended weekend and that is why it took a hit, but it dropped to $3.8M on Wednesday and $3.7M this Thursday.

    As of now, expectations range from $35M to $40M which would still be in the usual 60%+ drop for Marvel films that we’ve seen with many others. Box Office pro currently projects around $38M which would be a 64% drop, not the worst in Marvel history. The Friday box office will be the clear indicator of where the film will land. Either way, it’s still expected to hold the top spot for the weekend.

    Source: Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Box Office Pro

  • ‘Shazam 2’ Projected for a Soft $40M Domestic Opening Weekend

    ‘Shazam 2’ Projected for a Soft $40M Domestic Opening Weekend

    Warner Bros. Discovery’s overall strategy for their upcoming release slate has been a bit confusing. While they are showing a lot of trust in The Flash with an early release at CinemaCon, it doesn’t seem like they are giving the same attention to their other theatrical releases like March’s Shazam! Fury of the Gods. With barely any real marketing push, the film’s first box office projections are looking quite soft.

    As it stands, projections believe the film will open anywhere between $35M to $40M. Projections have been tough during the pandemic as very few truly managed to shoot past even the most optimistic projections, but it’s a rough look for the Shazam! sequel if this film won’t even pull in the opening box office from the previous entry, which stood at $53M. Smaller budget productions like this don’t have to break any massive opening weekend records but it’s definitely a showcase that with three weeks to go, it’s not looking to be a strong addition.

    There could be quite a few factors that add to the uncertainty about the film’s box office. Warner Bros. is generally trying to save money to make up for its loss, which was the main reason for the many questionable decisions we saw last year after the Discovery merger was finalized. Dwayne Johnson’s refusal to create synergy with Black Adam is also seemingly hurting the film’s chances of using that momentum and might not even come close to that film’s $67M opening weekend.

    We also can’t forget that DC Studios is about to re-invent the entire DC Cinematic Universe line-up, which will likely further have visitors wonder if there’s much point to keep up with the recent releases. If they are going to reboot the projects, there’s no real point to rush to see the latest entry but with a good ranking, it could get some good legs to at least become profitable by the end of its run.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter, The Numbers (Shazam), The Numbers (Black Adam)

  • ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Opens to Franchise Best

    ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ Opens to Franchise Best

    Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania has topped the box office. The Ant-Man threequel managed to take in an impressive $120 million over Presidents Day weekend, beating out expectations. Perhaps more impressively, though, the film’s opening makes for the biggest opening for the Ant-Man films to date. The film’s opening is also the third-best opening for February and Presidents Day weekend, behind Black Panther’s $242.1 million opening and Deadpool’s $152.1 million opening.

    Rich Gelfond, the CEO of IMAX, noted that $24 million of the film’s box office came from the premium format screens, calling it the first blockbuster of the year. “’Ant–Man’ is the first new Hollywood blockbuster out of the gate in 2023.”

    Quantumania makes for the first $100 million domestic debut so far this year. Overall, the film took in $225 million at the worldwide box office, having earned $121 million internationally. While the movie didn’t quite take off in China as Marvel might’ve hoped, earning just $19.2 million, the film seems to be doing quite well despite its low rating among critics. Quantumania is currently sitting at 47% on Rotten Tomatoes following 308 reviews, but audiences don’t appear to feel the same way as critics – the audience score is currently at a solid 84% following 5k verified ratings.

    For comparison’s sake, 2015’s Ant-Man opened to $57 million, while 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp opened to $76 million. While those films ended their runs with $519 million and $622 million, Quantumania is expected to end its run ahead of both titles.

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is now playing in theaters.

    Source: Variety.

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ Faces Challenging Box Office Debut in Asia Pacific Markets

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ Faces Challenging Box Office Debut in Asia Pacific Markets

    Not all is sunny with the latest release by Marvel Studios, as while it did manage to release in its predicted release window at $104M domestically over three days. The big surprise is a softer release internationally at $121.3M. As of now, the film is 13% ahead of the first Ant-Man internationally but 27% below its sequel Ant-Man and the Wasp. Yet, the big reasoning here is that it had a very soft Chinese opening at 19M, which is quite a bit further away from the predicted $35M to $55M. It seems that it did receive a similar score to that of the first Ant-Man but was lower on another score.

    Rotten Tomatoes soft score didn’t help and if you add in factors like a tired box office after Chinese New Year and a general lack of interest in Hollywood productions, it’s going to be a tough battle for the film in that market. We also can’t forget that Marvel films have been banned since 2019 and it was going to be an uphill battle no matter what was released in that market. Deadline also points out one rather interesting aspect: science-fiction has major troubles in Asia Pacific markets as even Star Wars has trouble establishing itself in these markets.

    South Korea seems to have a similar development with these types of films, which doesn’t help matters much as both were key markets in the last two films’ releases. Still, Australia and European markets are performing ahead of the last two releases and could make up for the softer Asian release, but it does seem unlikely that the film will pass Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s global box office at this rate. It could have a chance at around $550M to $600M depending if that B CinemaScore will not overshadow any potential legs. The drop in the next weekend will give us a clearer picture.

    Source: Deadline

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ Conquers a $46M Friday Opening at the Box Office

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ Conquers a $46M Friday Opening at the Box Office

    The numbers are in and after a very strong $17.5M Thursday preview showing for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, it seems the film managed to pull in a strong $46M haul over Friday at the domestic market. As such, there’s a good chance the film will at least pull in $100M over three days at the box office; though the recent B CinemaScore could slow down its momentum. Still, the film is the biggest in the trilogy as Ant-Man opened to $57.2M; the smallest MCU start; and Ant-Man and the Wasp managed to pull in $75.8M. They grew from previews at around $6M and $12M respectively.

    The film is now the third-highest Friday grosser in February and is on track to make around $115M over the four-day weekend. There have been some that believe it could go even higher towards $120M but the current critical reception may make that a bit difficult. 62% of the audience seemingly purchased their tickets in advance or even on the day still makes for a strong opening overall for the film. Audiences seem to give it a 3 1/2 star overall and while it has similar lows like Eternals, this entry has a bit more going for it that could entice audiences long-term.

    Kang’s arrival was the main selling point and that could definitely be something that’ll keep audiences interested to check it out in case they missed anything. Creed 3 is also around the corner starring Jonathan Majors, which may boost the film for those wanting to compare his performances. IMAX made up 43% and is showcasing that the format may become a great way to build more revenue for cinemas. The big test remains on how the film will perform overall at the box office, as it’s unclear if it’ll manage to pull $700M+ with its current rating.

    A $600M run does seem very possible but just how high it goes depends on the drop in the next weekend. The Box office is looking at a lot of competition in the coming weeks but that actually makes for a good thing, as the last few years have been dead at the theaters. So, the more releases there are, the more momentum theater chains get in visitors. Some might come back to check out the Ant-Man threequel and it seems he movie performed very well with families. Perhaps that kind of demographic could make all the difference and push the film towards a 2.3 or even 2.4 multiplier.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline