Black Widow: International box office projecting a $70 million debut

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

While the last couple of months have shown that the domestic box office has been climbing closer to pre-pandemic grosses, Marvel Studios has consistently been a top performer, globally speaking. Now, new results show a potential $70 million weekend debut for Black Widow, the first film in Marvel's Phase 4 initiative. Scarlett Johannson's swan song as Natasha Romanov will be the first true test of how the box office will fare with a film premiering day and date on the big screen as well as on Disney+ Premier Access.

This weekend also sees major sporting events in Europe, namely the Euro 2021 Championship, which could skew the results for Black Widow, but if projections hold it will be great news for Hollywood.

Disney expanded the reach of Black Widow's web on Thursday to offshore outlets, raising its total to $22.4M in 41 markets. Add that to the film's $13.2M Thursday night take in domestic theaters, and you've got Marvel's superspy spinning up $35.6M at the box office so far. Should the money-making trend hold throughout the weekend, analysts expect Black Widow to ensnare $140M globally. $70M of that projected total is expected to come from international theaters.

While Black Widow is performing like gangbusters in select territories throughout the world, we're still in the menacing grip of a pandemic. This being the case, it's been said that some theaters where the movie is currently screening could introduce harsher capacity restrictions as early as Monday. It's also worth noting that some theaters are not permitted to operate beyond a certain hour of the night, so late-night screenings will be hard to come by in certain areas. Either way, Black Widow will undoubtedly make plenty of money, especially when you add that $29.99 price tag for Disney+ Premiere Access screenings.

Unfortunately, theaters are still closed where I live, and it looks as if it'll stay that way until at least July 16th. In other words, I'll be coughing up $30 for old Mickey Mouse to beam that sweet Marvel goodness into my home theater. I'll tell you what, though. It's a price I'll gladly pay.

How do you plan on watching Marvel Studios' Black Widow this weekend? Are you ready to brave the theater scene for Natasha's long-overdue solo adventure, or will you be keeping things in-house? Let us know in the comments section below.