‘Morbius’ Box Office: What the Film’s So-So Debut Means for Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” welcomed a boost in ticket sales at the international box office, though the third installment in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series already seems to be running out of steam.Over the weekend, “Fantastic Beasts 3” added $71.7 million from 66 foreign markets, taking the film’s international tally to $150.4 million. After debuting to a less-than-enchanting $43 million in North America, “The Secrets of Dumbledore” has collected $193.4 million to date.Along with United States and Canada, the Warner Bros.

Warner Bros/DC’s The Batman has winged its way past three-quarters of a billion dollars at the worldwide box office, maintaining its spot as the highest-grossing film of the year, globally and domestically. The worldwide cume through Sunday is $751.1M with the Matt Reeves-directed spin on the Caped Crusader counting $386.1M at the international box office and $365M in North America.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the latest film in the Wizarding World universe and the third movie as part of the “Fantastic Beasts” franchise, brought in $6 million in its Thursday box office previews from over 3,350 screens. While “Fantastic Beasts” looked to be a once promising franchise when it launched in 2016, the third film, “The Secrets of Dumbledore,” has been dogged by off screen controversy and is following up some tepid reviews for the previous film “The Crimes of Grindelwald.” And while independent trackers say that “Secrets of Dumbledore” could climb to between $47-50 million this weekend, that would be below the prior installment.

Warner Bros. which has traditionally ruled the Easter weekend box office is back, now a year later after Godzilla vs. Kong brought bread to reopening cinemas during the pandemic, with J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore. The pic’s stateside opening, and further expansion abroad into 44 markets, arrives days after the Warner Bros. Discovery merger went public.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAn pack of intrepid wizards will duel against a tiny blue speed demon to lead domestic box office charts.The odds-on favorite “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the third entry in the “Harry Potter” spinoff series, is expected to debut to at least $40 million from 4,200 North American theaters. Those ticket sales should be enough to surpass the competition — unless last weekend’s champion “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” powers to another strong turnout at the movies.

Viva Maestro, a documentary starring the charismatic music and artistic director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Gustavo Dudamel, opened on a high note taking in $14,310 on two screens — Film Forum/NYC and The Landmark/LA. That’s a PTA of $7,155 for the film directed by Ted Braun (Darfur Now, Betting on Zero) and presented by Greenwich Entertainment and Participant Media. It expands to 40+ theaters next weekend.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” isn’t bewitching audiences, at least, compared to other films set in the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.The latest chapter in the prequel saga, which takes place decades prior to the adventures of Harry, Ron and Hermione, opened at the international box office over the weekend and pulled in $58 million from 22 overseas markets. That’s a steep drop from 2018’s “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” the previous entry in the fantastical series, which collected a spell-bounding $191 million in its international debut.“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” opens in North America next weekend.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Sonic the Hedgehog 2” powered to $71 million in its domestic box office debut, a hopeful indication that family audiences are feeling better about returning to theater.In taking the No. 1 spot, Paramount’s kid friendly film towered over Sony’s Marvel adaptation “Morbius” and Universal’s Michael Bay action-adventure “Ambulance,” which debuted to a disappointing $8 million.Ticket sales for “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” set a new high watermark for video game adaptations, supplanting the opening weekend record established by its predecessor, 2020’s “Sonic the Hedgehog.” The first movie collected $58 million in its first three days of release and ended the President’s Day holiday weekend with a mighty $70 million.

video-game-inspired flick grossed $26.5 million on its opening night, according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo database.“Ambulance,” a Michael Bay thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal, came next, grossing $3.2 million on its premiere.“Morbius,” the latest movie based on a Marvel Comics character, followed with $2.9 million Friday and $49.8 million cumulatively.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAn animated movie about a blue, anthropomorphic speed demon is expected to outrace a Michael Bay action-thriller starring Jake Gyllenhaal and a Marvel comic book adaptation at the box office this weekend. Welcome to the chaotic state of moviegoing in 2022.Indeed, Paramount’s family friendly sequel “Sonic the Hedgehog 2” looks to sell more tickets in North American movie theaters than Universal’s starry high-speed heist film “Ambulance” and Sony’s antihero adventure “Morbius,” featuring Jared Leto.

Refresh for latest…: New blood in the form of Sony’s Jared Leto-fronted Morbius led the global box office this weekend with an $84M debut, while Paramount’s Sonic The Hedgehog 2 got off to a booming $25.5M start from its first 31 offshore markets. Warner Bros/DC also has something to crow about as The Batman topped $700M worldwide.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter“Morbius,” the latest comic book adventure from Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, opened in first place at the domestic box office, though ticket sales were considerably softer than recent superhero blockbusters.Dinged by comically terrible reviews, “Morbius” sunk its teeth into $39.1 million from 4,268 North American theaters in its first weekend of release. That initial tally is at once a sign that audiences truly love comic book movies (in pandemic times, a non-superhero film with a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes wouldn’t stand a chance at the box office) and an indication that not every superhuman character will be greeted equally on the big screen.

While nowhere near the levels seen with Sony’s “Venom” films, “Morbius” was made on a considerably lower budget than Tom Hardy’s antihero romp with a reported $75 million budget. The $39 million launch is just below independent projections of a $40 million range opening but above Sony’s much more conservative projections of $33 million, an opening posted by recent comic book movies “Birds of Prey” and “Dark Phoenix,” both of which had higher budgets than “Morbius.”But while “Morbius” is off to a solid start, the film’s reception scores have been mixed at best.

Morbius” — about a doctor who splices his DNA with a vampire, with predictable results — grossed $17.1 million in the U.S.

J. Kim Murphy They say that a person should never invite a vampire into one’s house, but what about a vampire inviting a person into a movie theater? It seems that a modest amount of viewers are accepting that request, as Columbia Pictures’ “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto, is sinking its teeth into the domestic box office’s top spot with an opening weekend upwards of $38 million from 4,268 locations.That’s a fairly moderate opening figure for a film adapted from Marvel comics.

Such a result would be close to what trackers projected for “Morbius,” having predicted a start in the low $40 million range. Though Sony did have some sunk marketing costs for this film like many 2020 theatrical releases delayed by COVID-19, “Morbius” is significantly cheaper than other Marvel films the studio has released with a reported budget of $75 million.

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentHappy Anniversary — well, sort of “happy” — to Sarah Paulson, since it’s exactly 25 years since Variety ran a review of her feature film debut, “Levitation.” In the indie, she plays a pregnant teenager. Critic Leonard Klady on April 14, 1997, said it was a grim saga with “a strong cast” who were “not ably supported by the script.”It’s not the most promising debut and the film was quickly forgotten, but Paulson continued to work.Like many New York actors, she worked on stage and made her TV debut in a 1994 “Law & Order” episode, about a year after her high school graduation.She continued to do theater, including Broadway’s 2005 “The Glass Menagerie” with Jessica Lange, and films, such as the Oscar winner “12 Years a Slave,” where she proved herself a team player by working hard to promote the movie, even though she had a relatively small role.

“Kraven the Hunter” and “Madame Web” films.The studio is projecting that “Morbius” will make $33 million in its opening weekend against a $75 million budget. Independent trackers think it could go beyond that in its opening, perhaps in the $40-44 million range that Sony’s last blockbuster “Uncharted” hit earlier this year.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media“Morbius,” Sony’s latest attempt to extend its cinematic universe of Spider-Man villains and heroes, opened to $5.7 million in Thursday previews. The $75 million superhero film is on track to pull in $40 million in its first weekend of release. It’s a sign of just how much moviegoers love comic book fare.