Things are not looking good for the greater Marvel Cinematic Universe, as box office projections from box office analytics firm Quorum for one of their most expensive film ever, The Marvels, are trending decidedly low according to four-week lead tracking.
With the film premiering on November 10, the industry is taking a look at the buzz around the movie and it’s predicting a box office that’s about 50% lower than Captain Marvel‘s opening three-day weekend at $75M-$80M.
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There’s plenty of blame to go around for why this is, with a big chunk of it going towards the actor’s strike. None of the stellar cast is out there hyping the film up on TV or at conventions right now, giving audiences very little of the traditional promotion that would get them excited about seeing Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris reprise their roles as Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel, and Captain Monica Rambeau, respectively. Then again, there’s an argument to be made that no one is that excited to see the group at all, with Captain Marvel being the only heavy swinger in the film. Sadly, Ms. Marvel is still one of Disney+’s least-watched Marvel shows, despite being fantastic, and Monica Rambeau doesn’t even have an official superhero name or her own show/movie.
Tracking is showing the film is underperforming with the critical group of men 35 and under, with comps playing closer to Ant-Man than Iron Man despite Marvel’s efforts to make Captain Marvel a tentpole of this new phase of films.
Of course, this is all relative. Most studios would still kill to have the MCU pumping out films for them and it should be noted that both Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Loki‘s second season are certified hits, so the MCU’s downfall isn’t truly here yet. However, it can’t be a promising sign for Disney that their big holiday superhero film is tracking this poorly.
