Even though the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on the theatrical industry, the fact that Spider-Man: No Way Home, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, and Black Widow all did solid business at the box office further reinforced Marvel as the biggest brand on the planet.
That’s turned out to be a saving grace for Morbius, which may have flopped spectacularly in theaters were it not for the raft of recent successes enjoyed by both Sony and Marvel Studios’ shared universes. Based on its current trajectory, Jared Leto’s debut as the Living Vampire might be able to make it to $40 million by the end of tomorrow, but there’s a caveat.
While we can safely say that Morbius is guaranteed to finish the weekend well above $30 million, that nonetheless means that Daniel Espinosa’s comic book adaptation is set for the fourth-lowest debut of any live-action Marvel movie in the ten years since the terrible Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance bowed to $22 million in February 2012.
The New Mutants sort of gets a pass because it was sent out to die last summer and could only rustle up a paltry $7 million, while Michael Morbius’ introduction to the masses will finish comfortably ahead of the $25 million accrued by Josh Trank’s infamous Fantastic Four, and it should also have enough in the tank to win out over the $32 million brought in by the equally-dire X-Men: Dark Phoenix.
A win is a win at the end of the day, though, but the real question is whether or not Morbius has the legs to turn a decent profit in the long run, with April providing plenty of stiff competition.