Audiences are not excited about one of Marvel's most anticipated movies of the year. The Marvels, the second Captain Marvel film, starring Brie Larson, made only $47 million in the United States on its opening weekend.
According to Box Office Mojo, film industry consultant David Gross called this "an unprecedented Marvel box office collapse.” The expert explains that sequels usually generate better results than their predecessors (12% more).
The first movie starring Captain Marvel made more than $153 million in its first weekend in American theaters. To make matters worse, The Marvels cost $270 million to make, making it one of Marvel's most expensive movies. Captain Marvel (2019) cost $179 million to produce, according to data collected by Screen Rant.
If local releases are not considered, the movie ranked at the top of the box office in international markets such as China, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. In the international market (not counting the United States) it grossed only $63 million, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Although it may be too early to assess whether the actors' strike hurt the release of The Marvels, Gross doesn’t think that’s the case. He pointed out that the same happened to two other movies starring female superheroes: Suicide Squad/Harley Quinn and Wonder Woman 2. He claims that audiences are simply not interested.
Gross believes that we will have to wait to see what happens with other releases to figure out if The Marvels flopped on its own, or if people are, indeed, losing interest in the genre.
