"Morbius," the latest comic book adventure from Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters, debuted at the top of the domestic box office, despite ticket sales being significantly lower than recent superhero blockbusters.
Despite receiving comically negative reviews, "Morbius" grossed $39.1 million in its first weekend of release from 4,268 North American theaters. That initial tally is both a sign that audiences truly love comic book movies (in a pandemic, a non-superhero film with a 17 percent on Rotten Tomatoes wouldn't stand a chance at the box office) and an indication that not every superhuman character will be received equally on the big screen. Sony's 2018 antihero origin story "Venom" was similarly panned, but it still managed to gross $80 million in its first weekend and $213 million overall at the domestic box office.
"Morbius" grossed $44.9 million at the international box office, bringing its worldwide total to $84 million. It's unclear whether "Morbius," like many Hollywood films, will be released in China.
The vampire-infused "Morbius" cost Sony $75 million to produce, which is less than what studios typically spend on superhero blockbusters. Marketing and other promotional costs added tens of millions of dollars to the bill. Morbius the Living Vampire is not as well-known as Spider-Man, Batman, or even Venom, who was introduced to general audiences in Tobey Maguire's "Spider-Man 3" and later played by Tom Hardy in the standalone films, film industry analysts did not expect "Morbius" to break box office records.
Sony is betting big on "Morbius," a film starring Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a renowned biochemist who transforms into a lethal vampire after attempting to cure himself of a rare blood disease. The studio scored big with "Spider-Man: No Way Home" ($1.88 billion at the global box office) and successfully spun "Venom" into cinematic gold (the first film earned $856 million globally, and the 2021 sequel "Let There Be Carnage" earned $501 million). However, Sony has grander plans to create a viable rival to Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a lackluster showing for "Morbius" indicates that in order to get audiences to go to theaters, these films must actually be watchable.
"Morbius," directed by Daniel Espinosa, stars Adria Arjona, Matt Smith, Jared Harris, and Michael Keaton, who reprises his role from previous "Spider-Man" films.
Following "Morbius," Sony's Universe of Marvel Characters continues with standalone stories on "Kraven the Hunter," starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and "Madame Web," starring Dakota Johnson.
Given the lukewarm response from critics and moviegoers (it received a "C+ CinemaScore"), box office experts do not expect "Morbius" to have a long run on the big screen. As "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" (April 8) and "Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore" (April 15) hit theaters, it will face stiff competition from younger male ticket buyers.
In a distant second place, Paramount's action-adventure "The Lost City" took in a healthy $14.8 million from 4,283 locations in its second weekend of release.
Another comic book blockbuster, "The Batman," starring Robert Pattinson, finished third with $10.8 million from 3,732 theaters. The Warner Bros. film has grossed a whopping $349 million at the domestic box office after only five weeks in theaters.
For the second weekend in a row, Tom Holland's video game adaptation "Uncharted" and Crunchyroll's manga adaptation "Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie" ranked fourth and fifth on the box office charts, respectively.
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