Eternals beat the worldwide opening weekend totals for both Black Widow and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. The latest entry in the MCU has finally hit theaters, which introduces audiences to an entirely new superhero team. In a year full of Marvel stories on both the big and small screen, it appeared audiences were still wanting more and showed up for Eternals.

With the fact that Eternals was based on a rather obscure Marvel Comic, the box office potential of the movie was always up in the air. Marvel had managed to turn obscure characters into mainstream heroes with Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, so there was nothing to suggest Eternals couldn’t be the next big breakout. However, with Eternals scoring the worst Rotten Tomatoes score of any MCU film and the lowest Cinemascore from audiences, it began to cast doubt over Eternals box office potential.

SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY

It seems though Eternals was a hit – according to Deadline, the film grossed $161.7 million at the worldwide box-office, outgrossing the worldwide opening weekends for Black Widow ($150 million) and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($128 million). Eternals now has the second biggest worldwide opening weekend of 2021 behind only F9 ($163 million) and the film performed very well in South Korea, parts of Europe, and Latin America. Eternals domestic weekend box office was $71 million, which is below the opening weekends for Black Widow ($80 million) and Shang-Chi (75.4 million).

The worldwide total is an impressive feat to consider given that Eternals was banned in several countries due to the presence of an openly gay superhero. Eternals domestic opening weekend also makes it the fourth highest-grossing opening weekend since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down theaters, placing it behind Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Black Widow, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. This means that the top four biggest opening weekends of 2021 are superhero films and all based on Marvel Comics, showing the trend of what movies draw audiences back out to the theater.

See also  Pokémon Legends: Arceus - How To Get (& Use) The Electirizer

Eternals opening weekend may be the lowest domestic opening weekend since Ant-Man ($57 million) in 2015, but with a $14 million margin of difference during a pandemic that still says a lot for the film. With the only new major release hitting theaters this next week, it is likely Eternals will hold the #1 spot for a second week. How much the film will dip will be watched closely, though. Past Marvel Studios movies released in November like Thor: Ragnarok and Doctor Strange both held well in November due to the holidays, so Eternals likely could benefit as well.

Next: How Eternals’ Initial Rotten Tomatoes Score Compares to the Rest of the MCU

Source: Deadline

Key Release Dates
  • Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)Release date: May 06, 2022
  • Thor: Love and Thunder (2022)Release date: Jul 08, 2022
  • Black Panther: Wakanda Forever/Black Panther 2 (2022)Release date: Nov 11, 2022
  • The Marvels/Captain Marvel 2 (2023)Release date: Feb 17, 2023
  • Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)Release date: May 05, 2023
  • Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)Release date: Jul 28, 2023
Magic Mike 3 Replaces Thandiwe Newton With Salma Hayek

About The Author


Richard Fink
(530 Articles Published)

Richard Fink is a news writer for Screen Rant. He graduated from Arizona State University in 2016 with a degree in Film and Media Production. He loves the finer things in life, like cold Diet Coke on a hot summer day. Richard is a fan of all things Star Wars, Marvel, DC, and Film History.

More From Richard Fink

See also  The 15 Most Iconic Quotes From Scorsese’s Casino