The Marvels has proven a box office disappointment both in Australia and abroad, with one of the lowest ever starts for a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel opened at no. 1 locally with just $2.9 million from 728 screens, or $3.2 million with previews. By way of comparison, its predecessor debuted to $15.1 million.
The only other MCU titles with poorer starts in Australia, not adjusting for inflation, are Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($2.1 million with previews), which debuted during COVID-19 lockdowns that saw cinemas in New South Wales and Victoria closed, and 2008’s The Incredible Hulk ($2 million).
In North America, The Marvels started at just $US47 million, and globally tallied $US110.3 million; both are the worst opening results ever seen for a MCU film. Its poor performance has been chalked up in the US trades and other media to superhero fatigue, Disney releasing too much Marvel-related content on Disney+, average reviews and a lack of promotion due to the SAG-AFTRA strike.
Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell tells IF the weekend was “worse than anyone expected” with a new Marvel film opening, noting Australia failed to even manage a pro-rata result in line with the already soft US result.
“We are hoping it at least holds relatively steady for the second weekend, given the reviews and reactions have been reasonably positive,” he says.
Wallis Cinemas head of programming services David Simpson was slightly more upbeat, telling IF it had pegged the film to “be a disaster” but “as dreadful as the results were, they were better than expected.”
With The Marvels DOA, Numero data puts the top 20 titles at $6.1 million, down 1 per cent on the previous. That result makes last weekend the slowest of the year so far.
Other new releases last weekend included India’s Tiger 3, whose release coincided with Diwali. The Salman Khan-starrer opened at no. 5 with $336,637 from 128 screens for Mindblowing Films.
A remaster of 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense, distributed by Madman, cracked sixth position with $292,289 from just 42 screens, or $336,217 with previews. By screen average, at $6,959 it was the best performer in the top 20.
Action comedy Freelance, starring Alison Brie and John Cena, came in behind, capturing $184,882 for Roadshow from 195 screens.
Of the holdovers, Universal/Blumhouse horror Five Nights at Freddy’s took $1.3 million in its third frame, advancing to $12.2 million.
Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon has reached $6.8 million for Paramount after generating $602,493 in its fourth outing, and Trafalgar Releasing’s Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has reached $8.7 million after five weekends, having added an extra $366,482.
In eighth, Roadshow’s Dumb Money drew $156,618 in its third weekend to move to $1.4 million. Not far behind was Paramount’s PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie, now at $8.3 million to date after ringing up $117,224.
Rounding out the top ten was Universal’s The Exorcist: Believer, which took $61,893 in its sixth frame, advancing to $3.5 million.
Australian animation Scarygirl landed just outside the top 20 after losing 50 screens. Its third weekend result of $27,805 marked a drop of 70 per cent, bringing the Madman title to $303,989.
Garth Davis’s Foe, distributed by Transmission, fell 64 per cent in its sophomore frame to $23,184, climbing to $141,520.
Documentary Mutiny in Heaven: The Birthday Party, directed by Ian White, slowly rolling out across the country via Label, is now at $134,872 after three weekends, having earned an additional $15,968.
Bring Him to Me, directed by Luke Sparke, is at $67,161 for Rialto after taking $12,982.
Wallis Cinemas’ first foray into distribution, documentary Isla’s Way, opened to $12,183 from 17 screens, while Alice Englert’s debut feature, the New Zealand-shot Bad Behaviour, opened on $7,732 from 12 screens from Ahi Films.
Noora Niasari’s Shayda, now six weekends in, stands at $312,931 for Madman after earning an additional $5,006.
Madeleine Blackwell’s feature Damage, distributed by Antidote, made it into the top 50 with $4,953 from nine screens, or $5,982 with previews.
Australian box office data is via Numero.