The next chapter of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe has arrived. after being pushed back over a year and a half from its pre-pandemic release date, the world is finally able to meet Jared Leto’s Dr. Michael Morbius, who, like his comic book counterpart, has become the Living Vampire. Critically speaking, Morbius hasn’t been faring well, but poor reviews don’t always lead to a similar box office launch. So now did the latest superhero movie fare on its opening night?
Morbius kicked off its theatrical run on Thursday night to the tune of $5.7 million domestically. That preview night screening total falls short of 2019’s Shazam! pulling in $5.9 million on its first night, but overall it’s not a bad debut. As far as Morbius’ opening weekend haul goes, Sony Pictures is reportedly expecting it to land around $33 million, but according to Deadline, industry estimates place it somewhere in the $40-50 million range.
Morbius doesn’t really have anything in the way of opening weekend competition, as The Bubble, Better Nate Than Never and Apollo 10½ are all streaming releases, and Chris Pine’s The Contractor is only playing in limited theaters alongside its VOD release. That being said, Morbius follows a week after Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum’s comedy The Lost City, which knocked The Batman from the #1 spot. Speaking of The Batman, although the Matt Reeves-helmed movie premiered a month ago, it’s still going strong on the silver screen, having made over $677 million worldwide at the time of publication.
As mentioned earlier, Morbius has been bombarded by negative reviews this week, ranking at just 16% among critics on Rotten Tomatoes. CinemaBlend’s own Eric Eisenberg gave Morbius just one out of five stars in his review and said that the movie was “so creatively bankrupt and lacking in entertainment” that he urged people not to buy a ticket. So while negative critical reception doesn’t always equate poor ticket sales, the press surrounding Morbius certainly isn’t doing it any favors.
On the other hand, Morbius’ predecessors in Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man Universe, Venom and Venom: Let There Be Carnage, weren’t critical darlings either, but they both performed well at the box office. That being said, not only is Morbius’ critical reception worse than what both Venom movies received, but the Venom property was already a popular aspect of the Spider-Man mythology before Tom Hardy hit the scene as Eddie Brock, whereas Morbius the Living Vampire is a more obscure character.
CinemaBlend will continue providing box office updates on Morbius in the days ahead. However, if your cinematic interests lie elsewhere, scan through the 2022 movie releases to figure out what you plan to watch later in the year. Following Morbius’ release, Sony’s Spider-Man Universe will pick back up when Kraven the Hunter (the eponymous character being played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson) comes out on January 13, 2023.
