We’ve been watching Eternals‘ predictions go up and down throughout the weekend. Some pointed to it underperforming with around $69M as its highest possible outcome, but it looks like it did keep pushing through and now ends the weekend on $71M. It is behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings‘ $75.3M but takes the fourth spot of highest-earning film openings of the year at the domestic box office. Including its international cume, it now stands at quite an impressive $161.7M with the pandemic still raging.
As of now, the top four releases of the year are Marvel-based properties with three of them stemming from Marvel Studios. The best opening at $90M is still held by Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage film. There is a good chance the upcoming Spider-Man: No Way Home film might take the top spot before the year ends. Still, Eternals is the second-biggest international opening of any film during the pandemic which is quite impressive and shows that it simply has a stronger pull in other markets, especially South Korea.
Eternals numbers aren’t your usual Marvel Studios fair, as they commonly beat the lowest expectation. Yet, it’s not the first time it happened. Back in the day, Ant-Man also opened to the lower end of its expectations. There’s a strong connection to build-up and connectivity between the various franchises that may play a factor here. Plus, we’re still in the pandemic. The latest entry of the MCU seems to have an older audience in mind, which is currently still entering cinemas later than usual. Naturally, it’s behaving closer to an indie film on a larger scale given Zhao‘s touch and its reception by audiences. It’ll be interesting to see how it develops.
Eternals has finally released and gave us a hint at the fate of the newly introduced race of aliens that lived among humans for decades. The all-star cast includes quite a few big names, such as Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Don Lee, Kumail, Nanjiani, and many more. Playing the race’s leader is Selma Hayek, who recently joined Smallzy’s Celebrity Small Talk podcast, where she revealed that she has signed up for multiple Marvel Studios films. The host also took to Twitter to share her full quote, where she confirms she has a multi-film deal but she doesn’t know if or when she might return to the role.
I did sign multiple movie deals! It was kind of fun being part of this…secret society that you have to protect so fearlessly.
Salma Hayek
If you haven’t watched the film yet, only continue at your own risk, as we will spoil a major moment in the story.
So, this is a rather curious confirmation. Salma Hayek‘s character Ajak famously dies early on in the story and acts as a catalyst for the events that unfold. Her role as their leader is passed on to Gemma Chan‘s Sersi. So, her signing up for multiple sequels might have an implication on where exactly the story is heading. It also opens the window for other Eternals that passed away in the story to make a return at some point down the line. It also might hint that Chloé Zhao might have mapped out these characters’ future, as she even hinted that the inclusion of Harry Styles as Starfox was a “package deal” when she signed on for the project.
Box office numbers are slowly rolling in, as we got a clearer picture of just how well Eternals did on Friday. It looks like the film pulled in $30.7M. It’s slightly above the base $30M reported last night and puts the film on a path to potentially beat out Black Widow‘s $80M opening weekend. For now, it’s slightly behind Thor: The Dark World and Doctor Strange, who didn’t have to compete with the pandemic. At its current standing, it is Disney’s highest opening day with a theatrical exclusive release, as it just barely passed Shang-Chi‘s impressive $29.5M in September.
The big test will be how word-of-mouth affected the film, as while it has a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes by critics, fans have generally deemed to enjoy the film with 84%. Yet, it currently has a B CinemaScore standing with audiences, which is the lowest for an MCU film. Still, it’s a great start and still opens the possibility of it passing Black Widow’s opening numbers. Internationally, the film has been performing well and garnered $38.4M, which means it has earned $69.1M in just its first day. Currently, it is trending ahead of the previous entries of the franchise.
For now, we’ll have to keep an eye on how it develops over the weekend and if word-of-mouth might hurt it long-term with a stronger drop in its second week. Shang-Chi was a strong showing for the studio as it continued to hold on to the top spot for quite some time. With more competition heading its way, it’s unclear if Eternals might manage the same, or face a harsher drop given its mixed reception moving forward. Its massive running time is also part of the issue here, as it means fewer showings for the film, which doesn’t have the whole “end of a decade” selling point attached to it.
Friday usually makes up 40% of the box office, as pointed out by Deadline which means it might be lower than the previously stated $80M prediction. Of course, there’s always a chance this new audience reception, which is only available as of today, might boost its numbers after all. The CinemaScore might be our first indication. Eternals only drawback is the film’s length. It’s one of the longest entries in the franchise. While Avengers: Endgame had the selling point of ending the franchise’s first major arc, Eternals is a rather unknown property that introduces a group of new heroes.
Dune is currently in second place and might take a bite out of Eternals box office. As of now, the film might not pass the $80M mark after all even as earlier predictions were a bit more optimistic in that regard. Internationally, the film is currently outpacing Shang-Chi and Black Widow, which continues to point to a strong global opening for the production. Deadline also points out that Disney has $100M in brand marketing partners, which helps reduce the burden on covering costs for the company.
As star Letitia Wright continues to recover from an injury suffered during filming earlier this year, production on Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has come to a halt. According to a trade report, the production has worked around the injury as Wright heals but, at this time, have filmed everything they can without the actress who is rumored to be among the favorites to assume the mantle of Black Panther in the film.
The studio has its eye on resuming filming at some point early next year and with the film recently has seen its release date shifted from July to November, the film should easily make its scheduled date if things go according to plan. It’s uncertain if perhaps these events were also playing into the delay to ensure it wouldn’t have to cut it close.
It’s good that they aren’t forcing production if Wright isn’t healed enough to play her role. Interestingly, they filmed all the scenes that don’t involve her, which may hint that they are going to wrap up production soon, or also hints at her strong presence in the sequel. As of now, it seems very likely the film won’t face any delays if they can resume production in early 2022. They might use this time to finish up other work
Eternals’ release is finally here. The trailers for thefilm suggest it will reveal some secrets of human history. Similarly, people who worked on the film are now allowed to reveal some parts of the process of how the film came together. In this instance Eternals writers, Kaz and Ryan Firpo have spoken about how the Marvel Studios Visual Development team helped them in their writing process for the film.
Speaking to Deadline’s Hero Nation Podcast, Kaz Firpo, described one of Marvel Studios’ writing rooms. The description giving plays on the many memes of the studio’s secrecy, as only certain members of the crew had access to and didn’t even include windows to make sure nothing leaks.
Eternals was written in the Black Widow conference room. It has no windows there’s a door with a lock and only six people have access like Kevin Feige, Nate Moore, Chloe and then like the writers, you know, like we’re the ones that go into that room. It’s a private secret, hermetically sealed chamber.
Kaz Firpo
Beyond this, he describes a writing-artistic collaborative process with Ryan Meinerding, VP and Creative Director of Visual Development at Marvel Studios, and how it influenced their work by bringing their pitches and ideas to life.
You walk into your room and the walls are covered. It’s incredible, Ryan Meinerding, I do have to shout him out the Head of Visual Development at Marvel. He’s reading pages [of the drafts] and going ‘ooh, this is cool’ and then literally drawing the ideas that we’re having on a weekly basis. So you’ll come in and they’ll just be like a new artwork on the wall from something we’re just talking about a few days ago, so that’s it that really just inspires you to keep going and digging even deeper, they’re iterating.
Kaz Firpo
Having potential moments from a draft drawn up into key art soon after it’s been discussed sounds like a fantastic way to further inspire writers. The collaboration is indicative of the innovative processes they have set up at Marvel Studios across their different departments and collaborators. It’s exciting to think as the studio keeps pushing forward the narratives of the cinematic universe, that they’re also continuing to experiment with working processes to better help their creative teams.
To a generation, Andrew Garfield IS Peter Parker. And in an interview with The Guardian, the actor describes how his time as Spider-Man served as his own coming of age story.
Garfield played Peter Parker/Spider-Man over the course of two films in 2012 and 2014. The actor became beloved for his portrayal of the character in The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2, but according to him the experience opened his eyes to the nature of the money making machine that is Hollywood.
“I went from being a naive boy to growing up,” said Garfield. “There are millions of dollars at stake and that’s what guides the ship. It was a big awakening and it hurt.” The pain, according to Garfield, came from the realization that the studio wasn’t interested in the soul of the character and the fans that love him, but their bottom line:
Comic-Con in San Diego is full of grown men and women still in touch with that pure thing the character meant to them…you add in market forces and test groups and suddenly the focus is less on the soul of it and more on ensuring we make as much money as possible. And I found that – find that – heartbreaking in all matters of the culture. Money is the thing that has corrupted all of us and led to the terrible ecological collapse that we are all about to die under.
In the years since, Garfield has stayed away from major studio tentpole films though his return as the Web-slinger is this December’s Spider-Man: No Way Home is all but confirmed. Hopefully someone will check in with him again following that film to see what brought him back to the role after having such a negative experience the first time around.
The following article will spoil Eternals film’s first post-credit sequence. Only continue at your own risk.
After the events of Eternals unfold, we witnessed a small group of our new heroes going out on a voyage to find others of their kind. Suddenly, they are welcomed by the voice of Patton Oswald, who turns out to be Pip the Troll. Not just that, he is also the messenger for another Eternal, Eros. Not only do we get the confirmation that the MCU’s version of Starfox will be the brother of Thanos, but he also is played by Harry Styles. Well, it turns out Chloé Zhao had her eyes on the actor for quite some time.
Harry as Eros was very much a package deal for me. I pitched the idea of Pip the Troll and Eros to Kevin awhile back and I love the idea of exploring an Eternal who is beyond Titan and who may have influenced Thanos throughout the years the same way Eternals influenced us, earthlings. And then, it wasn’t like I suggested Eros, and let’s go find actors.
Chloé Zhaoeternals harry style
Zhao highlighted that he caught her attention after the release of Dunkirk and she was quite happy how perfectly he matched the character of Starfox when they met up to talk about the potential role.
I kept tabs on Harry since Dunkirk, I thought he was very interesting. After meeting him I realized he is that character—the same way I cast the rest of my cast. There’s so much of Eros in him. For me, if he says yes and Kevin says yes then it’s a go. And I’m very happy they both did.
Chloé Zhao
It’s quite interesting that she pitched these characters to Kevin Feige some time ago. In a way, it hints that she also had some clear plans for the characters beyond their brief introduction at the tail end of this film. In a way, she does imply that she might already have plans for a sequel that builds upon the events from this film and its first post-credit sequence. We’ll see if we get a sequel announcement sometime soon, especially as its opening seems quite promising so far.
Eternals has finally arrived and offers a new look at the cosmic side of the Marvel Studios universe. What originally got kicked off with the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy films has continued to expand. Yet, we’re about to enter a very different type of cosmos, as we get introduced to the Eternals and the Celestials. As we explore the birth of the universe, we might only begin our exploration of what else is out there. Luckily, one of the film’s writers Kaz Firbo confirmed that this is just the beginning of our adventures into the cosmos.
Eternals is really launching us off into the atmosphere, into the cosmos, Guardians touched on it, Thor touched on it, but there’s how many planets? How many stories? There’s so many places and planets we can do, see and explore.
Kaz Firbo
It’s a curious tease, as we’ve technically already visited quite a few planets throughout the first few phases of the MCU. Also, it opens up the question if there are plans to expand Eternals into a franchise. Producer Nate Moore mentioned that there’s no guarantee we’ll see any sequels. Yet, Firbo was quite optimistic about returning to write a follow-up.
We hope people really love this movie, and they go see this movie so that we can go and start writing the sequel. There’s a big door, you know, and I think the question is, does the audience want to step through it? I think that’s been a big thing.
Kaz Firbo
It certailny sounds like they have some curious plans for the franchise’s future, especially given how deep this adaptation aims to explore a different side of the cosmos. Marvel Studios’ expansion might have just begun in Phase 4 and it looks like we’ll have many different corners to explore throughout the upcoming films and Disney+ series.
You clicked on an article about a post-credit scene, so proceed at your own risk knowing it will be spoiled.
It’s not just about the post-credit scene. Yes, that post-credit scene, which sees Kit Harrington’s Dane Whitman interact with an evil, talking sword before being snapped out of a trance by Mahershala Ali’s Blade, is one of Marvel Studios’ best in recent memory, but it’s not just about that scene. Harrington’s role as Dane Whitman in Eternals turned out to be a lot smaller than most people had originally imagined but it perfectly set up the character for a terrifying future and put Harrington on a path to one of the MCU’s faces over the next decade.
By the time Eternals‘ lengthy runtime expires, Harrington’s Whitman is surrounded in enough mystery to make him one of the more interesting characters to explore down the roads. All the hints are there: his estranged uncle, his “complicated” family history and, of course, the very, very dense post-credit scene all of which leaves a lot to unpack, especially for those unfamiliar with the character’s journey through the pages of Marvel Comics.
While Harrington kindly pretends he doesn’t know what’s next for the character, it’s hard to imagine Kevin Feige and the Parliament do not and Eternals gives fans a pretty clear idea of what to expect in the eventual Black Knight project.
The Funky Uncle
While Facetiming with Dane from the Amazon, Sersi implores him to reach out to his uncle and put whatever it is behind them that’s left their relationship strained. That uncle is Nathan Garrett, a British geneticist and inventor and the ancestor of one of the Knights of the Roundtable, Sir Percy of Scandia. As an ancestor to Sir Percy (the Black Knight of Arthurian legend), Garrett inherited the ancestral Garrett Castle which held within it the Ebony Blade, a magical weapon that carries with it a terrible curse. Garrett was found unworthy of the blade, but found plenty of ways to use his natural gifts to become a villain, even joining the Masters of Evil at one point. Before he died, Garrett, in an effort to make good on his potential and make amends for a life of crime, reached out to his nephew and bequeathed him Garrett Castle and all the remained inside, including his brilliant research and the cursed Ebony Blade.
The Complicated Family Legacy
As mentioned above, Whitman’s uncle is descendant of Sir Percy of Scandia which means so is Whitman. So Whitman is one of a long line of people who have had the cursed Ebony Blade, forged by Merlin himself and gifted to them as a birthright. Percy handed the blade to his nephew, Sir Raston (who was killed by Immortus) and from there it found its way through several owners throughout time, including members of the Knights Templar, before finding its way to Garrett Castle. As complicated as that family legacy may seem, it might be even further complicated in the MCU should they choose to pull a particular thread about some potential familial connections to King Arthur himself. What’s worse is that, as it turns out, it might not be the Ebony Blade that’s truly cursed, but the family itself as it was recently revealed during the King in Black event that the sword simply works with its wielder to reveal an unhealthy set of behaviors common in the line: blood lust, psychosis and extreme violence.
What’s In the Box???
And as you may have guessed, that’s the Ebony Blade in the post credit scene…and Marvel Studios knocked it out of the park. There’s no telling what origin the sword will have in the MCU, but they did their best to let us know it’s a terrifying artifact. As Dane opened the box, which was adorned with the same family crest seen on the ring Sersi gave him in the beginning of the film. the cursed sword began to call to Dane who then reads aloud (and not in modern English) the words “Death is my reward.” If that wasn’t creepy enough, as Dane reaches towards the blade, its surface reacts to what you have to believe is his DNA and behaves similarly to iron filings drawn towards a magnet. What plans Whitman has for the sword or vice versa will have to wait, however, as Blade interrupted their union. Choosing Blade as the interloper here is incredibly interesting as the time the two have shared together in the comics is minimal, but it does seem to indicate that the supernatural aspect of the sword will be something of interest later on.
What’s Next?
Whitman’s Black Knight has been an Avenger. He’s been a part of Excalibur. He’s been a member of MI-13. He’s traveled throughout time. He’s fought Skrulls. He’s found himself on Weirdworld. With Harrington on board in the role, it’s reasonable to assume that not only will we see a Black Knight solo project in the not too distant future, but we’ll also likely see a lot of the young hero in other projects over the next decade or so. He’s a character with a rich enough comic book past to connect more of the MCU’s unexplored history (and could especially help unlock the enormous and greatly unexplored potential of the magic, myth and legends of Britain) while also helping shape its future. For Harrington, it’s not just another guy with a sword. Harrington has said on multiple occasions over the past several weeks that he’s drawn to the darker side of this character. Let’s hope Marvel Studios minimizes the changes and maximizes the potential of a character with an already fascinating and established story.
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