The Marvels set a new Marvel record after a disastrous $46.1 million debut at the box office. The second-weekend collections are also disappointing, with the film projected to face a drop in the range of 78-80%. The film has now become the biggest headache for Marvel Studios, who will potentially lose millions and will have to rethink their every next step.

Brie Larson as Captain Marvel in The Marvels
Earlier, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania became the first box office disappointment for Marvel after the film failed to break even. The Marvels has put the studio in a worse spot than Ant-Man 3 since the film is far from recouping even its $220 million production budget.

Disney Will Lose Millions Due To The Failure Of The Marvels

Iman Vellani, Brie Larson, and Teyonah Parris in The Marvels
According to The Hollywood Reporter, The Marvels suffered a historic drop in the range of 78-80% due to the release of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The prequel film in The Hunger Games franchise has taken the number one spot at the box office and made a big comeback for the franchise. The Marvels is now expected to close this weekend’s box office collection at just $9-$10 million.

The Marvels hoped to regain the audiences during Thanksgiving; however, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes will possibly shatter the studio’s expectations for the film. Moreover, the Francis Lawrence film has almost the same target audience as the Brie Larson starrer, aged 18-34 and predominantly women, and this group seems to prefer the former over the latter.

The Marvels also faces competition from other Thanksgiving releases, including the Disney musical, Wish, and Ridley Scott’s historical epic, Napoleon. The film has collected just over $120 million at the box office till Friday, according to Box Office Mojo. In comparison, its predecessor, Captain Marvel, earned $455 million on its worldwide debut and grossed $1.12 billion in total.

At this point, the Nia DaCosta-directed film is projected to finish lower than its $220 million budget, losing millions of dollars for Disney.

The Marvels Box Office Performance Was Worse Than Expected

Zawe Ashton as the antagonist Dar-Benn in The Marvels
Weeks before the film’s release, box office tracking sites reported a $90 million (on the higher end) opening for the film. However, as the screenings approached, the presale figures suggested a disappointing start for the film. But nothing could have prepared The Marvels for such a disastrous performance, leaving many wondering what went wrong with the film.

The film’s performance itself was not the reason for this drop, given it had better ratings than the previous Marvel release, Ant-Man 3. Director Nia DaCosta and the leads Brie Larson, Iman Vellani, and Teyonah Parris also did a decent job with the film. However, the issue lies with recent superhero films, in general, and Marvel films, in particular. The expansion of the universe post-Endgame has not worked well for Marvel, with the audience experiencing some degree of superhero fatigue.

The last-minute promotions following the conclusion of the SAG-AFTRA strikes also didn’t help the movie. Now that the studio only has Deadpool 3 on their plate for 2024, there’s plenty of time to rethink their strategy. While Deadpool 3 has a considerable standalone fanbase, it is the next few films, including Captain America: Brave New World, that the studio must be worried about.