After a dramatically lackluster performance over its second weekend, Black Widow's initial success appears to have been a short-lived victory for cinemas.Box Office analyst Gitesh Pandya recently pointed out, "Different movie world for [Black Widow] but it looks to end its domestic [box office] run in same $175-180M neighborhood as the first Captain America, Ant-Man and Thor movies." Pandya added, "Ticket prices were less back then, but they also didn't have to deal with a pandemic or at-home streaming."
Marvel Studios' earlier films did not enjoy the same virtual guarantees at the domestic box office as some of its more contemporary releases, prior to the pandemic. For comparison, 2008's Iron Man grossed $318,604,126 over its lifetime in U.S. theaters, The Incredible Hulk, which released shortly after, saw $134,806,913; Iron Man 2 earned $312,433,331, Thor earned $181,030,624 and Captain America grossed $176,654,505. Black Widow has thus far earned $132,012,671, domestically.
Unlike the film's predecessors, Black Widow was released simultaneously in both theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access, where it reportedly earned roughly $60 million worldwide across 2 million views. Disney's decision to release in both theaters and on its streaming service continues to be a controversial one, with some suggesting that the tactic means that Disney loses more with Black Widow over the course of the film's lifetime.
Source: Twitter