Morbius Opening Night Box Office Is Half of Venom 2

The opening night box office numbers for Morbius are in, and Jared Leto’s movie made half of what Venom: Let There Be Carnage did. Sony kicked off its latest attempt for a Marvel shared universe revolving around Spider-Man in 2018. Tom Hardy’s Venom was a huge hit, giving them the confidence to make a sequel and move forward with another Spider-Man villain movie in Morbius. The latter is directed by Daniel Espinosa, stars Jared Leto as the Living Vampire, and finally released in theaters to kick off April 2022 after multiple delays.

In the lead-up to Morbius‘ theatrical release, there has been an ongoing debate about if the movie will be another hit for Sony’s Spider-Man Universe. Although neither of the Venom movies received positive reviews, they were both very successful at the box office. The original made over $800 million worldwide and Venom: Let There Be Carnage impressively earned over $500 million during COVID-19. Box office projections for Jared Leto’s superhero movie have been tepid, especially after Morbius reviews crushed the film, giving it the worst rating on Rotten Tomatoes of any Sony Spider-Man movie.

While today is Morbius‘ first full day in theaters, the movie had opening night previews last night on March 31, 2022. According to The Wrap, the film managed to earn $5.7 million at the box office in its opening night. This is half of what Venom: Let There Be Carnage made back in October 2021, where it made $11.6M on its way to setting a then-record opening weekend since the pandemic began. Morbius‘ opening night box office haul of $5.7M is in line with projections that the movie will have a $33-$40M opening weekend. Sony only reportedly spent $75M to make the movie.

For blockbusters and franchise films like Morbius, opening night box office stats are often a reflection of the hardcore fans rushing to theaters to see the movie. Although the opening is significantly lower than 2021 superhero movies like Venom 2, Black Widow, and Spider-Man: No Way Home, it is another decent start for Sony in 2022. The studio recently saw Uncharted have an opening night lower than Morbius, but positive word of mouth and the Tom Holland effect propelled the video game movie to a $51 million opening four-day weekend. Since Morbius has already started ahead of Uncharted, it could continue to beat the film unless the negative reviews drive down business.

Once Morbius‘ opening weekend is over, there will be a better idea of if the movie will be a success or not for Sony. It still isn’t available in many international territories, so the worldwide rollout will certainly help bolster Morbius‘ box office. Sony’s Spider-Man Universe films have so far been very successful overseas and that trend could continue with their latest. In any case, since plans are already underway for more movies, Morbius‘ box office might not hurt the franchise too much, although it could change Sony’s plans for Jared Leto’s superhero.

Source: The Wrap

About The Author

Cooper Hood
(5625 Articles Published)

Cooper Hood is a news and feature writer for Screen Rant. He joined Screen Rant in late 2016 following a year-long stint with MCU Exchange, which came after first developing an MCU blog of his own. He graduated college in 2016 with a Bachelor’s degree in Media & Public Communication, with a minor in Media Production. Cooper’s love for movies began by watching Toy Story and Lion King on repeat as a child, but it wasn’t until The Avengers that he took an invested interest in movies and the filmmaking process, leading him to discover the world of film journalism. Every year Cooper looks forward to seeing the latest blockbusters from the likes of Marvel, DC, and Star Wars, but also loves the rush to catch up on Oscar films near the end of the year. When he isn’t writing about or watching new releases, Cooper is a fantasy football obsessive and looking to expand his Blu-Ray collection – because physical media is still king! Follow Cooper on Twitter @MovieCooper.

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