Brie Larson and Iman Vellani “The Wonders”.
Courtesy of Laura Radford/MARVEL
Wonders is anything but wonderful so far at the box office.
Based on a $21.5 million profit Friday, Marvel Studios and Disney’s superhero tentpole is headed for a $47 million to $52 million domestic opening, which will rank it as the worst start from the history of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Wonders marks a new low for Kevin Feige’s Marvel Studios, which has enjoyed unparalleled success for years, and reinforces the theory that superhero fatigue is a real thing, as fanboys grow tired of a glut of titles and are much less forgiving.
Until now, rival DC has been the superhero studio that has seen the biggest ups and downs, with many of its films opening to $50 million or less (by comparison, many MCU releases have started with $100 million or more nationally). This summer, D.C. The flash debuted with a dismal $55 million domestically, before reaching a paltry $270.6 million globally.
Word of mouth already hurts Wonderswhich is only the third MCU title to receive a B CinemaScore from audiences after Eternals And Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantamania. The vast majority of MCU releases have earned some variation of an A. Rotten Tomatoes’ review score of 62% is also on the low end.
The 33rd installment of the MCU is a sequel to the 2019 Brie Larson-starrer film. Captain Marvel, which opened to $153.4 million in North America and is on track to earn $1.13 billion worldwide, unadjusted for inflation. This movie had a distinct advantage in that it was teased in the 2018 post-credit scene. Avengers: Infinity Warwhile its starting star was a 2019 player Avengers: Endgame (it was released between the two Marvel mega-blockbusters).
To date, 2008 The Incredible Hulk holds the record for the lowest domestic opening of any MCU title, at $55.4 million, not adjusted for inflation (Marvel, which was not owned by Disney at the time, partnered with Universal For Pontoon). The MCU’s Next Lowest Opening Belongs to Marvel/Disney’s The ant Manwhich started with $57.2 million domestically in 2015.
In the new film, Larson is joined by Iman Vellani, the star of the Disney+ series Ms. Marvelas well as Teyonah Parris as the adult version of Captain Marvel character Monica Rambeau. The actor made his Marvel debut with WandaVisionwhat mattered Wonders screenwriter Megan McDonnell among its screenwriters.
Wonders is unique for a superhero film in that it features three female leads. It was directed by Nia DaCosta, who is the first black woman to direct a Marvel Studios film, as well as the youngest director of an MCU film (DaCosta turns 34 on November 8). Marvel is proud to support independent directors such as Ryan Coogler, Taika Waititi and Chloé Zhao.
The cast of Wonders was unable to do promotion or publicity because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, although Larson and her co-stars took action Thursday after the strike ended. Larson appeared on Tonight’s show Friday, while she and her co-stars surprise fans at various screenings of the film in New York.
Overseas, Wonders set to open at $60 million for a $140 million overall start, compared to nearly $190 million for Captain Marvel.