Morbius Opening Day Box Office Pulls In $17.1 Million, Projected For Up To $41.5 Million Weekend
Morbius was one of the many films that was pushed back multiple times due to the pandemic, but the Jared Leto-led Marvel movie is officially playing in theaters. The film hasn't been met with the best reception, earning a 17% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 67% audience score. ComicBook.com's Spencer Perry gave the Sony/Columbia feature a 1 out of 5 and called it "lazy" and "incomprehensible." Despite poor reviews, Morbius isn't expcted to be a total flop at the box office. It was projected to earn $40 million this weekend, and it's still on track to meet that number. Morbius made $17.1 million on Friday in 4,268 theater locations, including all IMAX and PLF screens. For now, projetions for the weekend remain between $38 million and $41.5 million.
As for Columbia's other new releases, Uncharted earned $1.015 million on Friday, Spider-Man: No Way Home scored another $370K, and Umma made $37K. As for the Morbius' weekened projections, a close comparison would be the amount made by Warner Bros' Birds of Prey back in 2020. When Sony's Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released last year, it earned $90 million in its opening weekend, making it one of the first big earners of the pandemic.
Of course, an opening weekend of around $40 million would be a huge step down from Sony's recent success with Spider-Man: No Way Home, which earned the second-best opening weekend in history with $260 million. Now, the movie has made over $1.8 billion at the worldwide box office. This week, it also became the 3rd movie in history to cross $800 million at the domestic box office.
In addition to Leto, Morbius stars Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Matt Smith, Tyrese Gibson, Al Madrigal, Corey Johnson, and Archie Renaux. Michael Keaton, who previously starred in Spider-Man: Homecoming as Vulture, is set to have a small role in the film as well. Morbius is directed by Daniel Espinosa, with a screenplay by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless. The Marvel Comics character was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane. You can read Sony's description for Morbius below:
"One of the most compelling and conflicted characters in Sony Pictures Universe of Marvel Characters comes to the big screen as Oscar® winner Jared Leto transforms into the enigmatic antihero Michael Morbius. Dangerously ill with a rare blood disorder and determined to save others suffering his same fate, Dr. Morbius attempts a desperate gamble. While at first it seems to be a radical success, a darkness inside him is unleashed. Will good override evil – or will Morbius succumb to his mysterious new urges?"
Did you see Morbius this weekend? Tell us your thoughts in the comments!
Morbius is now playing in theaters.