‘Eternals’ opens with $71M, but audience response is mixed
NEW YORK — “Eternals,” one of Marvel’s most ambitious efforts to expand its superhero universe, arrived in theaters with about $71 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates.
By most studios’ box-office standards, the opening was enviable. Only three other films have debuted better during the pandemic: “Black Widow” ($80.3 million), “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($75.3 million) and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($90 million). But for Marvel’s well-oiled blockbuster machine, the “Eternals” launch in some ways constituted a bump in the road in an unparalleled 26-film streak.
Going into the weekend, forecasts had been only slightly higher at about $75 million domestically. More concerning for the Walt Disney Co. was the mixed audience response to Chloe Zhao’s 157minute movie about an immortal race of superheroes. The film is the first in the Marvel “cinematic universe” to rank “rotten” in Rotten Tomatoes’ aggregate critic score, with only 47 percent of reviews considered positive. Audiences also gave it a lower grade — a “B” CinemaScore — than any previous MCU entry.
But from the start, “Eternals” was a less charted direction for Marvel. By enlisting Zhao, whose “Nomadland” earlier this year won best picture and best director at the Academy Awards, the comic-book factory tapped a lauded filmmaker more associated with arthouse realism than computer-generated spectacle. The story, too, introduces a lesserknown alien class of superheroes, whose existence spans all of human history. With a teeming, diverse cast including Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Angelina Jolie and Kumail Nanjiani, “Eternals” dared numerous introductions — including the MCU’s first deaf superhero in Lauren Ridloff and the first superhero sex scene — not tried before in the franchise.
The weekend’s other major new release was “Spencer,” starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana. The acclaimed drama, which is expected to land Stewart her first Oscar nomination, launched in 996 locations and grossed $2.1 million for Neon.
The rest of the weekend’s top draws were holdovers. In its third weekend of release, Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic “Dune” took in $7.6 million for a cumulative total of $83.9 million.
MGM and United Artists Releasing’s James Bond entry “No Time to Die” grossed $6.1 million in its fifth weekend of release, bringing its domestic haul to $143.2 million. After 31 days exclusively in theaters, “No Time To Die” will be released on video-on-demand Tuesday for $20 rentals.
Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
1. “Eternals,“$71 million.
2. “Dune,” $7.6 million.
3. “No Time to Die,” $6.2 million.
4. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” $4.5 million.
5. “Ron’s Gone Wrong,” $3.6 million.
6. “The French Dispatch,” $2.6 million.
7. “Halloween Kills,” $2.4 million.
8. “Spencer,” $2.1 million.
9. “Antlers,” $2 million.
10. “Last Night in Soho,” $1.8 million