Walt Disney Co.’s The Marvels generated $46.1 million in US and Canadian theater ticket sales this weekend, the lowest opening ever for the company’s famous superhero franchise.
The receipts, reported by Comscore Inc. on Monday, compare with Boxoffice Pro’s estimate of $35 million to $49 million and the studio’s own forecast of around $60 million. Globally, the film brought in $109 million.
Marvel Studios, led by President Kevin Feige, had been one of the most consistent performers in Hollywood history. Its films, now numbering 33, have generated about $30 billion in theaters since the debut of Iron Man in 2008.
But the company has recently suffered weaker-than-usual reviews and revenue from pictures such as The Eternals and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Some Marvel TV shows made for Disney’s flagship streaming service Disney+, including She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Secret Invasion, have also failed to resonate with critics and viewers.
Read more: Marvel’s Latest Movie Tests If Superheroes Ever Get Tired
The Marvels stars Brie Larson, reprising her role as Captain Marvel, who battles against the villain Dar-Benn, played by Zawe Ashton.
As with several other films this fall including Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, marketing of The Marvels has been held back by actors being barred from promoting projects until the Screen Actors Guild reached a deal with Hollywood studios that ended their strike on Nov. 9.
Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger, who returned to run the entertainment giant in November, said on a conference call with investors last week that he would be devoting more of his time to fix issues at the company’s film studio after several summer releases came in below projections.
On Thursday, Disney overhauled its calendar of theatrical movie releases for the third time this year, delaying some Marvel titles to 2025.
(Updates with final weekend totals.)
