The MCU has been a superhero machine for over a decade. But just like any other machine, it needs some oiling now. With back-to-back blockbusters since Iron Man in 2008, Marvel remained at the top of the superhero game. However, the recent release of the Brie Larson-starrer, The Marvels, marks a record low for the franchise.
Blockbuster or not, Marvel installments certainly manage to script unique records. Reports suggest that the Captain Marvel sequel was recently marked as the most expensive per-minute film under 2 hours. Besides that, the MCU has recorded an all-time low box-office opening on Friday.
The Marvels and Brie Larson flop at the box-office
This weekend turned out to be a disaster for the MCU as the much-anticipated sequel of the 2019 blockbuster, Captain Marvel went downhill at the box office. The $200 million budgeted movie opened with a mere $47 million on Friday, per sources. Unfortunately, it is the lowest any MCU franchise film has recorded over the 15 years of its establishment.
Interestingly, The Marvels is also the shortest film in the Marvel franchise at only 105 minutes. Recalling the recent four MCU releases, all were clocked in at 126 minutes or less. As a result, this made the Brie Larson-led film the most expensive-per-minute film under 2 hours ever made. The Marvels director, Nia DaCosta commented on the film’s short length. She told Digital Spy,
“I really wanted it to be under two hours…I just feel like there’s no need to have it long if you don’t need to, because one hour 45 minutes is pretty average for a movie.”
Consequently, the film’s brevity significantly impacted its per-minute expenditure, thus, undesirably etching its name in the books of history. Nonetheless, this was not the case for Captain Marvel as it grossed a whopping $1.13 billion worldwide.
The Marvels stoops way below Captain Marvel
The 33rd installment in the MCU did not land in the real world as expected. Sequels never fail in the Marvel Universe. Yet, the box-office rating and critic reviews of the movie prove that one needs to keep battling to stay atop the game. In 2019, Captain Marvel opened with a bang, launching with $153.4 million and growing into a billion-dollar blockbuster worldwide.
Four years later, Larson failed to match her sequel, let alone outrank it. Apart from the ‘most-expensive-per-minute film under 2 hours’ and ‘lowest MCU launch’, The Marvels is also the first MCU film directed by an African-American woman. However, the film reviews were not ideal, nor were the spectators thrilled.
As per reports, the previous low for MCU bowed down to $57.2 million by Ant-Man in 2015, followed by The Incredible Hulk at $55.4 million in 2008. In all, many factors affected the opening of The Marvels, from the shift in superhero trends to the actors’ strike that restricted the cast from promoting the film until the SAG-AFTRA reached an agreement with the studios this week.
