The Marvels has reportedly suffered the worst opening weekend at the cinema in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) history.
The film, which is directed by Nia DaCosta, is the sequel to 2019’s Captain Marvel and a continuation of the television miniseries Ms. Marvel. The 33rd film in the MCU, it stars Brie Larson as Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Teyonah Parris as Monica Rambeau/Photon and Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel.
The film split the critics upon its release, with a range of mixed reviews. In a three-star review, NME has said that “while DaCosta’s Candyman reboot was thrilling, this never musters the same level of engagement, despite a script that is chock full of good lines and a cast of willing participants. More meh than marvel, you might say.”
Other reviews have been less generous. In a one-star review, The Telegraph wrote that the film has taken the superhero franchise “to a new low”, adding that “the shortest of the films is also the most interminable, a knot of nightmares that groans with the series’ now-trademark VFX sloppiness.”
The Hollywood Reporter had previously predicted that the film would take between $60million and $65million (£49-53million) in its opening weekend.
However, the film earned just $21.5 million (£17.59 million) on Friday (November 10) according to The Hollywood Reporter, with predictions now saying it will earn between $47 million and $52 million (£38.45-42.54 million) during its opening weekend. 2008’s The Incredible Hulk was previously the the lowest US domestic opening for one of the films in the series, with $55.4 million (£45.2 million).
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Part of the reason could be that the cast of The Marvels were not able to do any promotion or publicity because of the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike.
Once this was settled last week, however, the stars of the film started to promote the film. If more is carried out in coming weeks, it could lead to an increased take-up at the cinema.
Meanwhile, Park Seo-jun recently addressed his limited screen time in The Marvels.
Park Seo-jun stars in The Marvels as Prince Yan. The actor’s appearance in the film was highly anticipated, but fans have since soured on his appearance due to his reportedly limited screen time. According to The Straits Times, the actor has under three minutes of screen time in the new movie.
However, Park Seo-jun has since addressed those concerns, saying that “some might think my part in the movie is too short, but I believe it plays a crucial part in the overall narrative of The Marvels“, according to SBS Star.
“I think Aladna and Prince Yan are the place and the figure that [are] important for showing the growth of Carol Danvers,” he added.