Sony Pictures' decision to give Morbius its tenth weekend in theaters has backfired.
As reported by Forbes, the Jared Leto-led Spider-Man spinoff film was re-released in over a thousand theaters across the United States, with its Friday earnings totaling $85,000, resulting in a $ 280,000-weekend cume overall. This brings the total domestic earnings for Morbius from $73.3 million to $73.6 million, making for a $270 per-theater average.
Sony announced Morbius would return to 1,037 theaters across the United States for a tenth weekend, despite only earning a total of $73.3 million at the domestic box office. It is notable that Morbius has been trending as of late with a flurry of memes popping up across the internet. These mems include fan edits placing Jared Leto's Morbius into other films and television series, like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Better Call Saul. Notably, the phrase, "It's Morbin' time!" (a play on the Power Rangers catchphrase, "It's morphin' time!") has also become increasingly popular among Marvel fans poking fun at the film.
While the total domestic box office earnings were less than stellar, Morbius did experience a relatively solid opening weekend when it was first released in theaters with $39 million, coming just under the $40 million projections based on its Thursday preview earnings. This was despite Sony's own predictions that Morbius would earn a modest $33 million overall. By comparison, Sony's previous installment in its Spider-Man universe, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, earned $11.6 million during its previews.
While Morbius had a solid opening weekend, that was in spite of overwhelmingly negative early reviews from critics, with many noting the film's "messy" plot and "visually confusing" CGI as the film's biggest problems. However, several noted Morbius' post-credit scenes as a major issue as well, with one critic calling them "some of the worst post-credits scenes you've EVER seen." However, many have praised the strong performance of Matt Smith as the antagonist as well as the movie's treatment of the horror genre. Currently, Morbius holds a "rotten" score of 17% on the review aggregate site, Rotten Tomatoes, though it does have a 71% overall audience score.
Sony Pictures' Morbius film follows Dr. Michael Morbius, portrayed by Leto, who gives himself transgenic vampirism in an attempt to cure his rare blood disease. The film marks the third entry in Sony's Spider-Man Universe, with the first two being Venom and its sequel, Let There Be Carnage. Created by writer Roy Thomas and designed by artist Gil Kane, Morbius debuted in The Amazing Spider-Man #101, published by Marvel Comics in October 1971.
Morbius is currently available for Digital purchase. The film releases on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on Tuesday, June 14.
Source: Forbes