• by Wayne Friedman , November 12, 2023

Massively underdelivering its typical benchmark of $100 million-plus for a Marvel brand theatrical movie opening, Walt Disney’s new Marvel film “The Marvels” started its first weekend with only $47 million in box-office revenue domestically, according to Comscore.

“The Marvels" is the sequel to 2019's “Captain Marvel," a movie that scored three times more revenue than the latest release for its opening four years ago -- $153.4 million. Both movies star Brie Larson as the tyrannical character, Kree.

“The Marvels” now holds the title of the weakest domestic theatrical opening of the 33 Marvel-branded movies.

Analysts believe the nearly four-month-long actors' strike played a role in the film’s less-than-average revenue performance. Except for just a day or two after the strike ended last week, there was no publicity from the actors. Publicity is a major component in the overall marketing campaign of a movie.

Disney continued to spend big on national TV advertising for the movie brand, as it regularly does, with $27.6 million so far from 4,260 airings, resulting in 2.7 billion impressions, according to estimates from EDO Ad EnGage.

In March 2019, Disney spent an estimated $39.4 million on the pre-opening of "Captain Marvel -- yielding about the same results, with 4,350 airings and 2.7 billion impressions.

International distribution of "The Marvels" registered another $63.3 million in box-office sales. 

Overall, 33 Marvel-brand movies have earned a collective $30 billion, according to Comscore.