Morbius Box Office Opening Projections Much Lower Than Venom 2
Box office projections for Morbius' opening weekend have Jared Leto's Marvel movie making significantly less than Tom Hardy's Venom: Let There Be Carnage. Sony launched its latest attempt for a shared universe in 2018 with Venom, and the film's incredible financial success meant moving forward with various other Spider-Man villain movies. Morbius was originally meant to be the second installment in the franchise before multiple delays resulted in the film moving to its final April 1, 2022 release date.
Sony's plans to release Morbius in April come as the studio has had a great run of success. Venom: Let There Be Carnage arrived in theaters last October, and while it didn't come close to matching the original's box office success, it did earn more than $500 million worldwide. That gave Sony's Spider-Man Universe one of the best performances since COVID, and audiences left the movie excited for the future. Spider-Man: No Way Home then crushed box office expectations upon its long-awaited release in December 2021. It was for this reason that it came as a surprise when Sony delayed Morbius once more instead of trying to immediately capitalize on the Marvel excitement.
With Morbius' release right around the corner, new box office projections have come in for Sony's movie. According to Variety, Jared Leto's superhero movie is tracking for a debut between $40-$50 million domestically. This is half of what Venom: Let There Be Carnage earned last fall, as the movie overperformed and made $90M. Variety reports that Sony's Morbius projections are even more tepid, as the studio is expecting a $33M opening.
The low projections for Morbius' box office are not what Sony would've hoped for. It comes as critics reviews are still under embargo, but early reactions have not been too positive. If there is a silver lining for Sony, looking at Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage's performance is a good place to start. Both movies greatly outperformed their box office projections, going on to nearly double what the industry expected. If Morbius can do the same, then Sony might be able to see the $75M-budgeted superhero movie become another surprise hit.
It would be in Sony's best interest for Morbius to perform well, as the studio already is filming Kraven the Hunter starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson and is gearing up to start Madame Web with Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney later this year. Morbius' director has already revealed how the movie's post-credits play a role in setting up significant events for the franchise's future. Sony certainly has dreams of continuing the shared universe in many ways, so audiences responding well to Leto's solo film would be good for their confidence. However, Morbius underperforming also likely shouldn't stop these other plans from moving forward.
Source: Variety