SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Sony’s Morbius is playing more like a horror movie: All the fans came out on Thursday night and Friday, with Saturday taking a 25% hit for a now $39.1M result. The pic’s worldwide start stands at $84M.
This is a glass half-full scenario right now at the box office. Considering their hardships during the pandemic, exhibition can’t be upset with this opening. Not only is it on an exclusive theatrical window from Sony, Morbius‘ start here is higher than last weekend’s The Lost City ($30.4M), and part of April’s back-to-back tentpole machine leading into May 6’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
At the same time, we’ve seen better from Sony’s own handling of Marvel. Look, no one was expecting this movie to be Ant-Man in regards to its caliber. It was buzzed all throughout the pandemic by distribution and exhibition sources that Morbius wasn’t exactly up to snuff, and clearly the C+ CinemaScore and 2 1/2 star word of mouth of it all seeped in over the weekend.
Heading into Friday, tracking had been wild about this movie, projecting $40M-$50M stateside. Morbius‘ results this weekend will at least reset some box office diagnostic firms to not shoot for the moon. While the 18-34 bunch have shown a rabid appetite to return to cinemas as the pandemic eases, particularly to comic book movies, at the end of the day, box office market forces haven’t changed: Unfortunately, you can’t overperform on a poorly reviewed and audience-received movie (that was something in the ’90s and the early aughts, which was very feasible to do). Twenty-three percent told PostTrak the movie was below their expectations, while 18% said that it exceeded their expectations, and 60% said it met their expectations.
In all fairness to Sony, they saw Morbius at $38M Saturday morning; everyone else had it higher. Sony’s own estimate heading into the weekend was a low $33M.
In regards to franchise building, I think Sony’s intent is to simply exploit the Marvel characters in its arsenal (they apparently have access to 900), many of them supporting characters or villains in the Spider-Man universe. Can’t fault any studio sitting on a prized asset with those business maneuvers, and credit to Sony Pictures Entertainment Chairperson Tom Rothman and Sony Motion Picture Group President Sanford Panitch for rolling the dice on a deeper universe Marvel anti-hero. It’s likely we’ll see Morbius costarring in another Sony Marvel movie, versus a sequel. It would be hard to make a sequel to Morbius: Even if the reviews on part 2 are through the roof, it’s very hard, business-wise, to convince the audience of that, and bring them back.
On the upside for Sony, they’ll have the benefit of steering Morbius through a theatrical window/ancillary model. Sony also kept the budget low here at a reported $75M net (some have even told me $83M); not the standard $100M-$200M+ associated with other Marvel movies. The pay deals with Netflix and Disney+, plus International territory deals, are poised to make Morbius profitable, according to one film finance source this morning. Remember, even the worst-received theatrical titles find a home audience; and being on a cinema marquee is the best and biggest form of advertisement for any movie, versus getting lost on a streaming queue.
Imax accounted for $3M of Morbius‘ business from 400 auditoriums in the US/Canada. Men over 25 were the most dominant at 35% (59% grade), followed by men under 25 at 27% (59%), women over 25 at 23% (best grade for the Leto movie at 72%), and women under 25 at 15% (65%). EntTelligence reports that 3M people watched Morbius this weekend, with 26% of the audience arrive after 8 PM on Saturday, which is very similar to The Batman, which grabbed 27% of it’s first Saturday’s attendance during the night-time hours.
1.) Morbius (Sony) 4,268 theaters, Fri $17.3M, Sat $13.2M, Sun $8.6M, 3-day $39.1M/Wk 1
2.) The Lost City (Par) 4,253 theater Fri. $4.3M (-63%), Sat $6.3M, Sun $4.1M, 3-day $14.8M (-51%)/Total $54.5M/ Wk 2
3.) The Batman(WB) 3,732 (-235) theaters Fri $3.1M (-44%), Sat $4.8M, Sun $2.9M, 3-day: $10.8M (-47%) Total $349M/Wk 5
The Matt Reeves is clicking past $700M today. Theatrical is alive.
4.) Uncharted (Sony) 3,064 (-352) theaters, Fri $1M (-23%), Sat $1.6M, Sun $950K, 3-day $3.6M (-27%)/Total $138.9M/Wk 7
5.) Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (Crunchy) 2,070 (-401) theaters, Fri $564K (-57%), Sat $824K, Sun $582K, 3-day $1.97M (-57%) /Total $31.3M/ Wk 3
6.) RRR (Sarigama Cinemas) 1,200 theaters, Fri $442K (-92%), Sat $710K, Sun $461K, 3-day $1.6M (-83%)/Total $12.3M/Wk 2
7) Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) 1,705 (-298) theaters, Fri $375K, Sat $650K, Sun $375K, 3-day $1.4M (-29%)/Total $802.7M/Wk 16
8.) Dog (UAR) 2,053 (-786) theaters, Fri $360K (-38%), Sat $599K, Sun $360K, 3-day $1.31M (-38%)/Total $60.1M/Wk 7
9.) X (A24) 1,799 (-1,121) theaters, Fri $331,55K (-54%), Sat $418,3K, Sun $271,9K, 3-day $1.02M (-52%)/Total $10.39M/ Wk 3
10.) Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) 38 (+28) theaters, Fri $354,9K (+74%), Sat $375,4K, Sun $281,5K, 3-day $1.01M (+102%), Total $1.75M/Wk 2
The Daniels’ directed fantasy martial arts family movie has a per theater of $26,6K, which is spectacular for a second weekend in a row per screen. The movie goes wide next weekend at 1,200 theaters.
11.) Sing 2 (Uni/Ill) 2,095 (-528) theaters, Fri $190K (-36%), Sat $390K, Sun $250K, 3-day $830K (-40%)/Total: $161.7M/Wk 15
12.) The Contractor (Par) 489 locations, Fri $195K, Sat $213K, Sun $127K, 3-day: $535K/Wk 1
SATURDAY AM UPDATE: Sony-Marvel’s Morbius grossed $17.2M yesterday for what is shaping up to be a $40.8M opening, estimates we first told you about.
Sony is giving an opening range between $38M-$41.5M. With moviegoing still coming back, that’s a healthy enough result for a studio tentpole right now, not that far from where the Culver City Studio’s Uncharted opened; and realize this movie is cheaper at $75M before P&A.
All of this despite the fact that we had been hearing for weeks that Morbius was bound for a $50M opening on tracking. In the same breath, we had always heard throughout the pandemic (even when theaters were shut down) that Morbius wasn’t at the same quality level as other Sony/Marvel or Disney MCU titles. That said, with awful reviews at 17% on Rotten Tomatoes, a C+ CinemaScore, and low Comscore PostTrak audience exits of 62% positive/47% recommend; everyone in the business should count their blessings with a $40M+ opening here. As of this minute, rival estimates aren’t expecting Morbius to fall apart tonight.
For those who are cynical about Morbius‘ opening, realize this is the beginning of a very healthy April, with several studio blockbusters leading into Disney/Marvel’s summer starter Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on May 6.
In other words, a lot of popcorn is going to be sold. Even though all titles are estimated to make $83.7M this weekend, +2% from last weekend, we’re expected to get some depth at the domestic box office in subsequent weekends, as the major studios release more than one wide entry, appealing to more than one audience. Next weekend, there’s a one-two-punch from Paramount and Universal, with Sonic the Hedgehog 2 aimed at families, and Ambulance targeting guys.
The CDC reported last week that cases fell 3% to 25,7K daily, hospitalizations falling close to 16%, and deaths down 14.4% to 627 per day. Some 217.7M Americans are fully vaccinated with two shots, repping 77% of the US population. In addition, 97.8 million have received their booster, which reps close to 45% of those who are fully vaxed.
Morbius leaned toward men at 61%, with 57% over 25, and 60% between the core moviegoing demographic of 18-34. Diversity demos were 37% Caucasian, 28% Latino and Hispanic, 19% Black and 14% Asian/other. The Daniel Espinosa- directed Sony movie made money on the coasts and in the South, where all top ten of its theaters are coming from. To date, Imax and PLF are driving 36% of Morbius‘ business.
Social media monitor RelishMix noticed ahead of opening that “fans have impatiently awaited the theatrical drop” of Moribus, with “chatter enthusiastically plucking moments from materials to compare the vampire movie to DC’s Batman. Then, threads run over to Spider-Man, and the potential for Marvel MCU cross-overs storylines, most all of which suggests that popcorn should be well-stocked for this event.”
There was an initial trailer drop for Morbius back in January 2020, when the movie was dated on July 3 that year. The social media universe for the film stands at 416.1M across Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok, “which is hauntingly close in stats to Venom, which opened with an SMU of 417.2M” reports RelishMix. That reach doesn’t include un-activated Marvel (127.1M) social channels in the mix. On 11 studio-owned videos on YouTube, fans and international channels have ripped, reposted, and reviewed at a very high viral rate of 43:1 and 228.9M views, “which is exceptional at double the norm for action-adventure-horror-sci-fi,” says the social media monitor.
EntTelligence shows that Morbius has clocked 1.3M admissions to date, with attendance strong in the evening hours and over 36% of the audience coming after 8PM. The average available seat has been priced at $12.77 compared to Spider-Man: No Way Home at $12.89 and The Batman at $12.88 during the same period.
Paramount’s The Lost City is seeing a second weekend -52%, with $14.6M after a second Friday of $4.28M. Pic’s ten-day total will stand at $54.3M. Again, that’s the best we’ve seen for a female targeted title during the pandemic.
Warner Bros.’ The Batman continues to chug, heading toward a final $400M+ endgame stateside. Three other Warner Bros. movies, all DC titles, have clicked past $400M in U.S./Canada: Dark Knight ($534.9M), Dark Knight Rises ($448.1M) and Wonder Woman ($412.8M).
Busting into the top 10, just as we told you, is A24/AGBO’s Everything Everywhere All at Once, which did $354,9K in its second Friday at 38 locations for what is shaping up to be a $1.04M second weekend, +108%, with a ten-day $1.8M total. A24’s horror movie X is taking 10th place with a $1M third weekend, -52% at 1,799 venues, and a running total of $10.4M by EOD tomorrow.
Other notables:
Paramount/Showtime’s pick-up of the Chris Pine-Ben Foster re-team The Contractor is a theatrical day-and-date on PVOD release, seeing an estimated $530K, with the Phoenix market doing OK. The pic will hit Paramount+ later this year. As STX reorganizes itself financially (we hear they are not filing Chapter 11 overall for the studio), this particular movie was placed into Chapter 11 by the challenged studio to protect the movie’s revenue streams, which Showtime and Paramount are collecting. Some money is owed to 30West on this film, we hear. Once STX gets its house in order, the financial affairs of this movie should be reconciled. At least that’s the intent, we hear.
Focus Features’ has the 19th Century Macedonian set genre movie You Won’t Be Alone, which debuted at the virtual Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. The English-subtitled movie is seeing $45K at 147 theaters for a $120K opening. I understand business just isn’t good for this Noomi Rapace film, which critics love at 93% certified fresh. Count on a 17-day theatrical window.
Apple trumpeted a surge for Oscar Best Picture winner CODA on AppleTV+ after Sunday night. The streamer isn’t reporting grosses on the landmark Deaf cast feature in over 500 locations, although we hear that the movie did around $100K on Friday, on its way to about $350K for the weekend, which is considered to be soft. Cinemark is apparently driving the bulk of business with about 100 theaters, followed by Regal with 65 bookings. CODA is booked at Harkins, Emagine, Landmark and Alamo as well — but not AMC. EntTelligence says that theaters are providing ten showtimes overall from Friday-Sunday for CODA with tickets selling at an average of $9.95.
1.) Morbius (Sony) 4,268 theaters, Fri $17.2M, 3-day $40.8M/Wk 1
2.) The Lost City (Par) 4,253 theater Fri. $4.28M (-63%), 3-day $14.6M (-52%)/Total $54.3M/ Wk 2
3.) The Batman(WB) 3,732 (-235) theaters Fri $3.1M (-44%), 3-day: $11.2M (-45%) Total $349.4M/Wk 5
4.) Uncharted (Sony) 3,064 (-352) theaters, Fri $1M (-23%), 3-day $3.7M (-26%)/Total $139M/Wk 7
5.) Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (Crunchy) 2,070 (-401) theaters, Fri $564K (-57%), 3-day $1.96M (-57%) /Total $31.2M/ Wk 3
6.) RRR (Sarigama Cinemas) 1,200 theaters, Fri $442K (-92%), 3-day $1.5M (-84%)/Total $12.4M/Wk 2
7) Spider-Man: No Way Home (Sony) 1,705 (-298) theaters, Fri $370K (-27%), 3-day $1.38M (-31%)/Total $802.7M/Wk 16
8.) Dog (UAR) 2,053 (-786) theaters, Fri $360K (-38%), 3-day $1.33M (-37%)/Total $60.1M/Wk 7
9.) Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) 38 (+28) theaters, Fri $354,9K (+74%), 3-day $1.04M (+108%), Total $1.8M/Wk 2
10.) X (A24) 1,799 (-1,121) theaters, Fri $331,55K (-54%) 3-day $1M (-52%)/Total $10.4M/ Wk 3
11.) Sing 2 (Uni/Ill) 2,095 (-528) theaters, Fri $180K (-37%),3-day $640K (-54%)/Total: $161.55M/Wk 15
12.) The Contractor (Par) 489 locations, Fri $195K, 3-day: $530K/Wk 1
MORE…
FRIDAY AM: Sony’s deep Marvel universe title, Morbius, rang up $5.7M last night from previews that began at 4PM at 3,583 theaters including Imax and PLF auditoriums.
That figure for the PG-13 movie is just under the $5.9M that Shazam made back on April 5, 2019; that movie opening to $53.5M.
While Sony is expecting $33M from the Daniel Espinosa directed, Jared Leto starring movie, industry estimates are higher between $40M-$50M. Working against the $75M genre production, arguably the first Marvel horror title since New Line’s Blade movies, are the disastrous reviews on Rotten Tomatoes at 15% Rotten. We’ll see if those reviews impact projections, however, Sony kept this Marvel movie cheap enough. Morbius in a fan screening Wednesday night at the Playa Vista Cinemark, which saw an appearance by Leto, played through the roof to a packed crowd.
However, Sony has been able to launch franchise films in the face of sour critics before: Marvel’s Venom to a once October record debut to $80.2M off 30% Rotten reviews, and Uncharted to $44M off 40% Rotten reviews, that latter movie now at $135.3M through its sixth release. Translation: People are still craving to go to the movies after being sidelined from activities during the pandemic, duh.
Paramount, which brought female moviegoers back last weekend with the Sandra Bullock-Channing Tatum romantic adventure comedy, The Lost City, is ending its first week with $39.7M. The movie should ease about 40% in weekend 2 with around $18M.
Warner Bros.’ DC title The Batman saw $1.3M yesterday (-8% from Wednesday) to Lost City‘s $1.8M (-10% from Wednesday), ending its fourth week with $338.19M. Sony’s Uncharted was 4th yesterday with $408K, -1% from Wednesday. Crunchyroll’s Jujutsu Kaisen 0 did $381K in its (technically) third Thursday, -10% from Wednesday, for a running total just under $11M. Saraigama Cinemas’ RRR ended its first week with $10.97M.
Expanding this week after setting specialty cinemas ablaze last week with a hearty opening in NY, LA and San Francisco is A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once going from ten locations to 38; the Daniels’ directed martial arts fantasy will land in the top ten in weekend 2. The movie ends its first week with an estimated $755K which includes Wednesday night special Imax screenings of $75K.
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