Box Office: Morbius sinks its teeth into a number one finish

As expected, Morbius topped the box office this weekend but the end result is a good news/bad news for the Sony Pictures Marvel release.

Morbius grossed $39.1 million this weekend and the good news is that Sony continues its streak of number one finishers following Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Spider-Man: No Way Home, and Uncharted. The studio has been on roll during the pandemic office and that can’t be overlooked. The bad news is that the opening is below the $40 million that was expected following its $17.2 million debut. Per Deadline, business declined by 25% on Saturday which is why Morbius is coming in below the $40 million mark. Given the film’s lackluster critical reviews and the “C+” CinemaScore from moviegoers, the film’s long-term prospects look pretty bleak. I suspect Morbius will crater severely in the weeks ahead but Sony was smart in some respects because they kept the film cheap at $75 million. Will Morbius be a franchise starter? Maybe not but he might pop up as a supporting player in future Sony/Marvel projects given this result. As for its overseas rollout, we’re hearing with some of the international markets factored in Morbius opened to $84 million globally. Not a bad start given its slim budget.

Falling to second is The Lost City with a gross of $14.8 million. That’s a sharper than expected decline of 51.4% but I think the film will have softer declines after this weekend. Comedy has been a tough sell at the box office and films geared toward the female audience have had an even more difficult time. The Lost City is still a win for Paramount Pictures as it currently sits with a domestic total of $54.4 million to date. The Lost City is still rolling out slowly overseas and doesn’t fully open in substantial markets for another 2 weeks but it did pull in $1.9 million from 17 territories to bring its international grosses to $7 million.

In third place, we find The Batman with a gross of $10.8 million. The film fell 47.2% this weekend as it did see direct competition from Morbius this weekend. Domestically, the Caped Crusader has grossed $349 million to date and now we have to determine if there is enough gas in the tank to reach $400 million in the U.S. It’s a definite possibility at this point. After pulling in an additional $13.4 million from 76 overseas markets, the film brings its global total to $710.5 million.

Falling to fourth is Uncharted with a gross of $3.6 million. That’s a slim decline of 27.9% as the film continues to hold decently since opening in February. The film brought its domestic total to $138.9 million and after grossing an additional $5.2 million from 55 foreign markets, the Tom Holland release brings its global total to $373.1 million.

Rounding out the top five is Jujutsu Kaisen 0 with a gross of $1.9 million. That’s a decline of 57.5% and considering I thought the film would be out of the top five this weekend, this is a small win. There is something to be said about these releases because if you aren’t a fan, you’re not expecting to perform as well as they do but they seem to always surprise. The film currently has a domestic total of $31.4 million.

What are YOUR thoughts on this weekend’s box office results?