Box Office: ‘Black Widow’ Poised to Capture Pandemic-Era Record With $87.8 Million Debut

Marvel Studios is doomed! Movie theaters are going to disappear! The sky is falling! Okay, that’s just hyperbole. But if you look at the last week of box office news, starting with the surprising financial decline of “Black Widow” and the incredibly harsh words from the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO), there is some concern that maybe folks aren’t flocking back to cinemas as fast as we hoped.

Marvel‘s “Black Widow” had a pandemic-record opening making $80.3 million last weekend. However, in its second frame, the top spot has been usurped by LeBron James‘ “Space Jam: A New Legacy,” as the sequel has earned $31.6 million, which is still slightly less than WarnerMedia was hoping for, but the studio is also offering a home viewing option to HBO Max subscribers.

“Black Widow” at home, audiences went to the movie theater in pandemic record numbers this weekend to catch the first Marvel movie released in two years.The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday the superhero pic generated an estimated $80 million in ticket sales in North America.

Black Widow has smashed US box office records in the pandemic era, earning $80million in cinemas and $60million on Disney+.Starring Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh, Black Widow is the first film in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe to be released since the pandemic began in March last year.

Black Widow is making history with its box office earnings and the film has now clinched a massive opening weekend collection of USD 80 million in the US as reported by Variety. It's the highest debut ever since the pandemic.

This weekend saw Disney test out a hybrid release with one of their top-tier releases, as “Black Widow” starring Scarlett Johansson hit both theaters and Premier Access on Disney+ this weekend. The studio had delayed the film’s release by more than a year due to the pandemic, and it seems to have paid off in a major way.

Rebecca Davis editorThe tear-jerking, patriotic pandemic film “Chinese Doctors” locked down a $53.5 million China opening weekend, according to Maoyan, setting itself up to become the most commercially successful political tribute film so far this year.Such films have been helped along by a line-up cleared of competitors.

Marvel movie released in two years.The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday the superhero pic generated an estimated $80 million in ticket sales in North America.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterDisney and Marvel’s superhero adventure “Black Widow” captured a massive $80 million in its first weekend, crushing the benchmark for the biggest opening weekend since the pandemic.In a first for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the film opened simultaneously in theaters and on Disney Plus as part of the streaming service’s Premier Access offering, where subscribers can rent “Black Widow” for an extra $30.

Just as notable is Disney’s announcement that the Marvel film earned over $60 million worldwide from its Premier Access program, which made “Black Widow” available at home for Disney+ subscribers for $30. This is the first time that Disney has released any PVOD numbers since “Mulan” moved from theaters to Premier Access last summer, with the studio retaining all revenue from those PVOD sales as opposed to splitting it with theaters.

Black Widow is huge!

Marvel's first release since the pandemic began, Black Widow is already setting records at the box office. After Vin Diesel's F9 provided the much-needed boost to the box office amid the pandemic-hit business, Scarlett Johansson's superhero film is now making a bigger impact with its strong start at the box office.

That is in line with what industry projections had set for the first Marvel film in two years, easily topping the $70 million opening of Universal’s “F9” but opening shy of the $100 million mark and just below the $92.5 million earned by “Spider-Man: Far From Home” in July 2019. As usual, Marvel fans have embraced the film with audience reception showing an A- on CinemaScore and a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score to go with an 80% critics score.

Black Widow might be making major bank at the box office for opening weekend.

“Black Widow,” Marvel’s superhero film starring Scarlett Johansson, made $13.2 million from Thursday box office previews that began at 5:00 p.m.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Black Widow” marks the return of Marvel movies to cinemas after a long and arduous COVID era absence. There’s clearly been a lot of pent-up demand for all things MCU.

FRIDAY AM UPDATE: Refresh for more analysis No, streaming hasn’t killed theatrical just yet, and those exhibitors who’ve gone hungry over the last year and half, received lots of bread last night. Disney/Marvel’s Black Widow kicked off its previews at 5PM earning a huge $13.2M, easily the best preview night to date during the pandemic besting Universal’s F9 ($7.1M) and Paramount’s A Quiet Place Part II ($4.8M).

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Black Widow,” the Disney and Marvel standalone superhero adventure starring Scarlett Johansson, launched internationally on Wednesday and collected $4.9 million in ticket sales from 11 overseas markets.The comic book adaptation, the first Marvel movie to grace cinemas in two years, had the strongest start in the United Kingdom, where it generated $1.7 million on its first day of release.