Box Office Thread

[Mr. Peanut]

Once the Thanos connection was shown and see everything work. The phase 1 movies all are great standalone level movies. The connections and universe made it must see and huge, it is not impossible to go back to the standalone to set up the big events. They just haven't done that at all, the Shang Chi credit scene has not materialized into anything, Kang was introduced on Disney + but nothing in movies until Ant-Man who shouldn't be dealing with big name villains. The Ant-Man movies should have kept the local theme. MoM had no Kang when it probably should have had something.

Yeah as I mentioned in another thread, the post-credits teases for Phase 4 and 5 are just all over the place. In the first three phases the scenes teased movies that were coming up next, or at least very soon, and thus it was clear how they tied into the story and when and where we would see them paid off. But nowadays....

Spoiler: Spoilers for every Phase 4 and 5 post-credits scene

BW: Yelena is sent to go kill Hawkeye. Followed up on in a Disney+ show. Only Multiverse Saga tease to be paid off so far, though it's not paid-off in a movie, so movie-only viewers are just gonna see Yelena pop up again later in Thunderbolts with this tease already being resolved, and probably not even mentioned.

Shang Chi: One post-credits scene sets up a mysterious alien signal from space and the other sets up the return of the Ten Rings organization. Neither have been followed up on and we don't know when or where they will be.

Eternals: One scene sets up Eris the brother of Thanos...no idea where that's going or why it needed to be teased. Another sets up Blade, which is still years away (four years after Eternals) and many films after Eternals. Only teased because a character from Eternals will also be in Blade (although I've heard that Black Knight might not even be in Blade, so who knows). The ending of the movie also has a cliffhanger with the Eternals being taken into space by Arishem, with a promise that he'll return to Earth for judgment...no idea how or when or where that'll be resolved.

No Way Home: Eddie Brock from the Venomverse gets drunk and leaves behind a bit of symbiote. No idea what the heck they plan to do with this or why they decided to introduce Venom to the MCU through a gag scene.

Multiverse of Madness: A mysterious character recruits Dr. Strange to go to the Dark Dimension and stop an incursion (and at the same time an eye suddenly appears on Strange's forehead). Presumably this will be followed up with Secret Wars in 2027, but that's only apparent if you know about the comics Secret Wars storyline and how an incursion creates Battleworld.

Love and Thunder: Zeus sends Hercules to go kill Thor. No idea when or where this will be followed up on.

Wakanda Forever: T'Challa's son is revealed to also be named T'Challa, implying that he'll probably be the next Black Panther at some point. Probably won't be followed up on until after Shuri's actor quits.

Quantumania: The Council of Kangs is revealed and they want to stop the Avengers from messing with the multiverse. Obviously setting up Kang Dynasty in 2026. Probably pretty confusing if you haven't seen Loki and have no comics knowledge, though.

GotG3: One post-credits scene establishes the new GotG team on a space adventure. Another establishes Star-Lord back on Earth. Unclear when or where these will be followed up on.

The Marvels: Monica ends up trapped in an alternate dimension where she meets Beast, played by his Fox actor. I assume this is a tease for Deadpool 3? If so that would be a positive change of pace since it would be the first MCU movie since Phase 3 to tease something that promptly gets followed up on in another movie (though I wouldn't be surprised if Monica and Beast end up not being referenced in Deadpool 3 at all). There's also a tease where Kamala and Kate set up a new Young Avengers team, however there's no Young Avengers movie currently planned and Kamala's actor said that fans should petition to get one made...

 

[Iceman]

The whole MCU machine is in trouble at the moment, CBMs as a whole really. Nothing can fall this hard from an already very low opening and it not be a sign of something deeper.

 

[Iceman]

Yeah as I mentioned in another thread, the post-credits teases for Phase 4 and 5 are just all over the place. In the first three phases the scenes teased movies that were coming up next, or at least very soon, and thus it was clear how they tied into the story and when and where we would see them paid off. But nowadays....

Spoiler: Spoilers for every Phase 4 and 5 post-credits scene

BW: Yelena is sent to go kill Hawkeye. Followed up on in a Disney+ show. Only Multiverse Saga tease to be paid off so far, though it's not paid-off in a movie, so movie-only viewers are just gonna see Yelena pop up again later in Thunderbolts with this tease already being resolved, and probably not even mentioned.

Shang Chi: One post-credits scene sets up a mysterious alien signal from space and the other sets up the return of the Ten Rings organization. Neither have been followed up on and we don't know when or where they will be.

Eternals: One scene sets up Eris the brother of Thanos...no idea where that's going or why it needed to be teased. Another sets up Blade, which is still years away (four years after Eternals) and many films after Eternals. Only teased because a character from Eternals will also be in Blade (although I've heard that Black Knight might not even be in Blade, so who knows). The ending of the movie also has a cliffhanger with the Eternals being taken into space by Arishem, with a promise that he'll return to Earth for judgment...no idea how or when or where that'll be resolved.

No Way Home: Eddie Brock from the Venomverse gets drunk and leaves behind a bit of symbiote. No idea what the heck they plan to do with this or why they decided to introduce Venom to the MCU through a gag scene.

Multiverse of Madness: A mysterious character recruits Dr. Strange to go to the Dark Dimension and stop an incursion (and at the same time an eye suddenly appears on Strange's forehead). Presumably this will be followed up with Secret Wars in 2027, but that's only apparent if you know about the comics Secret Wars storyline and how an incursion creates Battleworld.

Love and Thunder: Zeus sends Hercules to go kill Thor. No idea when or where this will be followed up on.

Wakanda Forever: T'Challa's son is revealed to also be named T'Challa, implying that he'll probably be the next Black Panther at some point. Probably won't be followed up on until after Shuri's actor quits.

Quantumania: The Council of Kangs is revealed and they want to stop the Avengers from messing with the multiverse. Obviously setting up Kang Dynasty in 2026. Probably pretty confusing if you haven't seen Loki and have no comics knowledge, though.

GotG3: One post-credits scene establishes the new GotG team on a space adventure. Another establishes Star-Lord back on Earth. Unclear when or where these will be followed up on.

The Marvels: Monica ends up trapped in an alternate dimension where she meets Beast, played by his Fox actor. I assume this is a tease for Deadpool 3? If so that would be a positive change of pace since it would be the first MCU movie since Phase 3 to tease something that promptly gets followed up on in another movie (though I wouldn't be surprised if Monica and Beast end up not being referenced in Deadpool 3 at all). There's also a tease where Kamala and Kate set up a new Young Avengers team, however there's no Young Avengers movie currently planned and Kamala's actor said that fans should petition to get one made...

The tradition of credit scenes is wearing thin, and in my showings far less people stay for them than in the past. Too many things get teased that don’t get paid off, or will take so long to pay off that people will have forgotten the initial tease by the time they do.

 

[Mr. Peanut]

And whats even more mind boggling is all these stories we’ve had dealing with alternate realities and multiverses (Loki seasons 1 and 2, Wandavision, NWH and MoM) have NOTHING to do with each other!

Remember how we all kept speculating how the events of Wandavision and/or Loki had to logically lead into NWH? Because Wanda and Loki messing with reality obviously is going to have repercussions right? Nothing. And then NWH had nothing to do with the events of MoM. theres no narrative thread between any of these things.

Yeah, every time they feature the multiverse it's through a different unrelated method.

Loki got mixed up in it via the TVA.
WandaVision just has dreams about it (or did the dreams first get mentioned in MoM? I forget...but her fake kids were definitely in WV, which was revealed to have come from her multiversal dreams)
No Way Home had Peter **** up a memory erasure spell.
Multiverse of Madness introduces a new character who has the power to jump between universes.
Quantumania had Kang traveling the multiverse with his Time Sphere, which is how he got stranded in the Quantum realm.
The Marvels has Dar-ben create a hole between universes using the bangles.

If there's any connection between these things, I can't see it. They do have Dr. Strange lampshade the fact that he just recently went on another multiverse-related adventure with Spider-man, but there's never anything to tie them together.

 

[kguillou]

Yeah like remember how exciting post credits scenes used to be and how we all anticipated seeing what the next important bread crumb of the whole saga was?

Yeah good times.

 

[kguillou]

Yeah, every time they feature the multiverse it's through a different unrelated method.

Loki got mixed up via the TVA.
WandaVision just has dreams about it (or did the dreams first get mentioned in MoM? I forget...but her fake kids were definitely in WV, which was revealed to have come from her multiversal dreams)
No Way Home had Peter **** up a memory erasure spell.
MoM introduces a new character who has the power to jump between universes.
Quantumania had Kang traveling the multiverse with his Time Sphere, which is how he got stranded in the Quantum realm.
The Marvels has Dar-ben create a hole between universes using the bangles.

If there's any connection between these things, I can't see it. They do have Dr. Strange lampshade the fact that he just recently went on another multiverse-related adventure with Spider-man, but there's never anything to tie them together.

The only thread was Wanda and her kids being carried over into MoM but even then Sam Raimi rewrote the character anyway so does that even count?

 

[Venom 1988]

I know MoM and NWH were supposed to have a stronger connection before all the delays started happening (when NWH was originally supposed to come out after MoM). Not sure if the memory spell gone wrong was the original plan but I do know America Chazev was supposed to be in NWH based on concept art.

 

[Iceman]

I know MoM and NWH were supposed to have a stronger connection before all the delays started happening (when NWH was originally supposed to come out after MoM). Not sure if the memory spell gone wrong was the original plan but I do know America Chazev was supposed to be in NWH based on concept art.

Oh that’s a shame if they cut all that. The multiverse stuff should all have been linked. As it stands it feels like multiple films/shows went in different, unlinked directions with it. Must be pretty confusing for your GA with no underlying knowledge of it all and who probably no longer sees every MCU project (especially shows).

 

[Iceman]

Yeah like remember how exciting post credits scenes used to be and how we all anticipated seeing what the next important bread crumb of the whole saga was?

Yeah good times.

A shame but that era is well and truly over when even what are supposed to be hardcore fans like me don’t always hang around, and much of the GA in my showings get straight up to leave as soon as the credits start. In phase 2 and 3 I used to see 80-90% stay even for late credits and hear the murmurs of “if is there another one?”

 

[samsnee]

And whats even more mind boggling is all these stories we’ve had dealing with alternate realities and multiverses (Loki seasons 1 and 2, Wandavision, NWH and MoM) have NOTHING to do with each other!

Remember how we all kept speculating how the events of Wandavision and/or Loki had to logically lead into NWH? Because Wanda and Loki messing with reality obviously is going to have repercussions right? Nothing. And then NWH had nothing to do with the events of MoM. theres no narrative thread between any of these things.

Exactly. Loki’s finale made it seem like that’s where the multiverse started. But NWH and MoM clearly imply it existed long before. There’s just no through line and what’s worse is they contradict each other.

 

[Scarlet Spider]

People will show up for good movies.

Gunn made a good movie and it got good reviews and made a ton of money. Same with Spider-Verse. The ones that were mid failed.

The Marvel logo used to be enough to bring in audiences regardless of quality. That's not the case anymore. They have to earn it again.

 

[Spider-Fan]

There isn't one silver bullet for what's happening with The Marvels. It's a wide variety of factors. Take your pick on which you think is biggest one. But what's clear is Captain Marvel 3 is likely dead. As is probably Ms Marvel Season 2. I think these characters are now supporting players only

 

[psylockolussus]

I've never seen a sequel crash and burn like this. Not on this level. This is going to end up being the biggest superhero flop of all time.

And I wonder what numbers Disney are eXpecting for Thunderbolts and Blade to be doing in less than 2 years, if they go ahead with their current 2025 slate.

I'm also finding it hard to believe that The Marvel is only grossing less than 3 million in its 7th day, and they are still moving forward with Wonder Man by resuming its filming this month...

 

[legendkillin]

The whole MCU machine is in trouble at the moment, CBMs as a whole really. Nothing can fall this hard from an already very low opening and it not be a sign of something deeper.

I think Madame Web will be pretty bad whenever that comes out, but that is expected to be terrible. No MCU connection to help it but from CBM it might do some of the worst numbers in history.

 

[Mr. Peanut]

But what's clear is Captain Marvel 3 is likely dead. As is probably Ms Marvel Season 2. I think these characters are now supporting players only

Hulk: "First time?"

 

[psylockolussus]

Black Adam's $168,054,237 now looks great in comparison... I can't believe how dire the numbers of this film is.

 

[Iceman]

I think Madame Web will be pretty bad whenever that comes out, but that is expected to be terrible. No MCU connection to help it but from CBM it might do some of the worst numbers in history.

I certainly can’t see it being the film that leads a CBM resurgence.

 

[Detective Conan]

 

[Mysteryman]

And I wonder what numbers Disney are eXpecting for Thunderbolts and Blade to be doing in less than 2 years, if they go ahead with their current 2025 slate.

I'm also finding it hard to believe that The Marvel is only grossing less than 3 million in its 7th day, and they are still moving forward with Wonder Man by resuming its filming this month...

Why wouldn't they go forward with a TV series that they were ALREADY shooting?

 

[Comicbookguy339]

At least it didn't go below 10M. But it is now officially tied with Steel for having the worst second weekend drop for a superhero movie.



A slightly better international drop (-70%).

 

[Incarnadine]

$10.2m smells like a fudge so they can say over 10 mil. I won't be surprised if when actuals come out tomorrow that it doesn't come in around 9.9..

Next week will likely be another huge % drop as it starts losing theaters. It didn't lose any this week, but I did notice it was moved to smaller screens, which didn't really affect much since those weren't even close to full either.

I have noticed a trend since well before TM even released, every single estimate that came out has been high, all subsequent estimates, right up until actuals were announced, kept getting lowered.

Just for this weekend estimates were for $15m, then $14m, then $12.25m and now $10.2m

 

[Ihmago]

I think Madame Web will be pretty bad whenever that comes out, but that is expected to be terrible. No MCU connection to help it but from CBM it might do some of the worst numbers in history.

Well... after seeing The Marvels' numbers maybe not being tied to the MCU will actually help it
Also, Madame Web's budget was under 100M while The Marvels was 250M, so even if it put similar numbers it'll still be doing better.

 

[NewYorkSpider]

Black Adam's $168,054,237 now looks great in comparison... I can't believe how dire the numbers of this film is.

Same. Hopefully this movie was just a bump in the road and not something long term. I believe the next films coming up will get things going again.

 

[psylockolussus]

The sad thing is the last MCU film was Gotg Volume 3, which had a 48% 2nd weekend drop. I thought that would have helped a bit especially for those who just ignored the shows. None of the first 32 films have struggled to hit $100 million in North America, for this to suddenly do less than $100 million in its whole run, not even 90 or 80 million at this point....

Total yikes at that 78% 2nd weekend collapse... and the cast just started promoting this on talk shows... I know its competing with 3 other new films but geez. This film isn't even as bad as the worst DCEU, FoXverse, SSU, MCU, Marvel, DC, franchise film to be performing like this.

I really wonder after seeing these numbers if Marvel Studios and Disney are STILL moving forward with their plans (for Daredevil Reborn, Thunderbolts, Blade, Armor Wars, Wonder Man, VisionQuest and whatever spin-off that was teased before the credits of the Marvels). Because at this point, they should focus on their biggest cards (Spider-Man, Avengers, Black Panther) in order to prevent more boX office failures in 2025 and beyond. We all saw how DCEU crashed and burned just after a few films. I still need to see a couple of successful Fantastic Four and X-Men movies.

 

[psylockolussus]

Why wouldn't they go forward with a TV series that they were ALREADY shooting?

Well are these tv shows helping the films anyway? Obviously not. Also these shows are eXpensive to begin with and aren't even that popular in their streaming service.

Did you think for a second, that eXplosion of MCU shows in Disney+ cause some negative response to the most recent MCU film? The one that is currently flopping at the boX office right now.

Obviously Disney didn't see this negative reaction coming. If weren't for these strikes, Daredevil Reborn and Wonder Man would have been done filming and those would have been another additions to the already long list of "they already filmed it so better release it, nevermind, if the general audience are eXhausted with being flooded by regular dose of mcu content".