Avengers: The Age of Apathy

Does anyone care about the Marvel Cinematic Universe anymore? Seems like the answer is, "No!"

Marvin Montanaro asks a question over at That Park Place. The answer is a simple, "No." Thunderbolts Opening Weekend Box Office a Major Eternals-Level Flop for Marvel Despite Strong Reviews — Is There No Hope Left for Disney’s MCU?

Marvel Studios is staring down yet another grim milestone. As Thunderbolts begins its theatrical run, domestic box office projections place the film’s opening weekend between $70 and $75 million. On paper, that might sound respectable—but in the context of Marvel’s recent track record, it paints a very different picture.

The Thunderbolts* movie has a "reported budget" of between $180 and $200 million. Since as far as I can tell it has NOT been the subject of numerous and lengthy reshoots, that may actually bear some congruence to reality. Add in another $100 or $125 million for marketing, and considering the fact that Disney will get roughly half of the box office receipts, this movie needs something like $600 to $700 million break even.

No. Movie theaters don't show movies for free. They get about half of the ticket price. Studios get a bit more than half in North America, and less than half in Europe and other places. Studios only collect about 25% of the box office from China.

The opening falls well below Captain America: Brave New World, which earned $100 million during its first domestic weekend. That film ultimately grossed just over $414 million worldwide. With a bloated budget and marketing costs factored in, it was widely deemed an abysmal financial loss for Disney.

Actually current projections indicate that the opening for Thunderbolts* is just slightly ahead of the 2021 release Eternals. That was a movie I couldn't watch for free. (It's available via my local library on DVD.)

This is sad because the movie reviews, from people that I actually trust, are all over the place. Some people hated it. Some enjoyed it. No one thinks it is great. But like so many people, I just don't care.

I have no faith in Disney, I haven't seen all of the Movies and Disney+ shows that lead into this, I have no desire to see all of them. I'm done with Disney Marvel. If it went away for 10 years, and came back with a crew COMPLETELY unrelated to the current set of hacks, AND I believed that they had figured out how to tell a compelling story, I would, maybe, give them a chance. The current people in charge of Disney Marvel are hacks, and activist hacks at that. "Don't give money to people who hate you," has been a long standing thing in my life.