Marvel is dominating the box office once again. Nature is healing.
Black Widow has performed just as well as anticipated this weekend, with Disney revealing exactly how much the Scarlett Johansson vehicle has earned thanks to its simultaneous theatrical and streaming release. The past year has been a tough one for the industry as high box office figures temporarily became a thing of the past, but the arrival of the first Marvel Studios movie since 2019 has delivered the biggest numbers since the pandemic began.
Disney has confirmed that Black Widow brought in a total of $215 million over its opening weekend. That includes $80 million domestically, $78 million internationally and $60 million via Disney Plus. BW‘s domestic figures mean it has already beaten out F9‘s recent gross, which was – for a brief period – the biggest opening weekend of the pandemic era with $70 million. Now that Black Widow has surpassed it, though, that means the Marvel film has the most impressive opening since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. The conclusion to the Skywalker Saga was the last truly massive production that came out before the pandemic struck in early 2020.
In addition, the studio has also revealed that Black Widow grossed over $100 million domestically, making it the first film to do since the COVID outbreak struck. It’s unknown as yet just how much of that $60 million haul from Disney Plus hails from the US, but clearly it was more than $20 million, in order to push the theatrical gross past that key $100 million milestone.
All in all, Disney execs must be rubbing their hands together at the success of their decision to drop Black Widow in both cinemas and on streaming simultaneously. Even though its strong theatrical performance proves audiences are beginning to return to cineplexes in their droves, it looks like Disney Plus may keep up its Premier Access label for the foreseeable future.