‘Morbius’ Sinks Teeth Into Box Office With $17 Million Opening Day

Naman Ramachandran “The Lost City” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” led the U.K. and Ireland box office over the four-day Easter holiday weekend.Paramount’s “The Lost City,” with a star-studded cast including Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt, debuted with £2.7 million ($3.5 million) atop the box office, according to numbers released by Comscore.

Salma Hayek has joined Channing Tatum in Warner Bros. Magic Mike’s The Last Dance, replacing Thandiwe Newton, who had to step away from the project for personal reasons.

Naman Ramachandran Warner Bros.’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets Of Dumbledore” debuted atop the U.K. and Ireland box office with £5.8 million ($7.6 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. In its second weekend, Paramount’s “Sonic The Hedgehog 2” collected £2.9 million and now has a total of £10.6 million.

Netflix documentary “White Hot: The Rise and Fall of Abercrombie & Fitch,” out April 19.The documentary traces the explosive growth of the fashion and pop culture sensation and how its clothing and seductive marketing dominated youth culture for over a decade. Under the stewardship of ultraprivate CEO Mike Jeffries, the brand was aspirational — and, as lawsuits later alleged, discriminatory in its hiring practices. Bogged down by bad press, legal issues and its reluctance to move with the ever-changing times, it had fallen out of fashion by the late aughts.The original Abercrombie & Fitch was founded in 1892 in Manhattan by David T.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2” earned an excellent $71 million opening this weekend from 4,232 theaters, topping the $58 million launch of the first “Sonic” film in 2020 and setting opening records for video game adaptations and for lead star Jim Carrey. At a time when theaters have been looking for movies that can bring families back into the seats, “Sonic 2” delivered with parents and kids making up 58% of the opening weekend crowd — up from 49% for the first “Sonic” — with 67% under the age of 25.

J. Kim Murphy As the box office opens two films featuring high-octane speedsters this weekend, one has emerged a clear victor.

By comparison, the first “Sonic” opened to $58 million and grossed $319 million worldwide before the pandemic cut its theatrical run short. “Sonic 2” should blow past that mark, as families and gamers have given it glowing audience acclaim with an A on CinemaScore and 98% rating on Rotten Tomatoes to go with a 68% critics score.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterAre superheroes impenetrable at the box office? Can any ol’ comic book character make a killing on the big screen?Sony’s antihero adventure “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto as Spider-Man’s eventual foe, will attempt to answer those questions when the vampire-infused horror movie opens in 3,600 North American theaters over the weekend.“Morbius” is estimated to sink its teeth into $40 million to $50 million in its first three days of release, according to independent tracking services. Sony, in an attempt to temper expectations around a newer Marvel character, is predicting a start closer to $33 million. Those ticket sales would be roughly in line with the Warner Bros.

Sony is further exploiting its end of the Marvel franchise this weekend with the long-delayed Jared Leto dark hero title Morbius. Booked at 4,200 locations, the Marvel vampire protagonist feature is eyeing a studio expected opening of $33M, but could get as high as $40M-$50M.

In a post-shutdown theatrical market where box office success has been defined by films that won the interest of men under 35, “The Lost City” has renewed hope that audiences in other demographics will show up to theaters even during the pandemic when studios offer quality material that isn’t a big blockbuster. It’s also a victory for one of the film’s stars, Channing Tatum, who already drew strong turnout from women last month with his previous film “Dog” and like that title was heavily involved in social media promotion for “The Lost City.” With stars like Tatum and Sandra Bullock in lead roles, Daniel Radcliffe and Brad Pitt in supporting positions and plenty of on-location shooting, “The Lost City” had a much bigger production budget than most romantic comedies with a reported $68-70 million spend and still has work to do to reach theatrical profitability.