(L-R): Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), Sersi (Gemma Chan) and Sprite (Lia McHugh) in Marvel Studios’ ETERNALS. Photo by Sophie Mutevelian. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.
Sophie Mutevelian
In holdover news for the weekend, Marvel’s Eternals earned $10.825 million (-60%) in its third weekend, taking a sharper drop (after similar second-weekend falls) than the likes of Black Widow, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Ant-Man and the Wasp. Yes, Ghostbusters: Afterlife opening to $44 million took some of the family audience from Eternals, but Marvel is supposed to be “the danger.” The latest MCU fantasy has now earned $135.8 million. Legs like Thor: The Dark World (which dropped 61% in weekend three against the $158 million launch of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire in 2013) will put Eternals at $166 million by the end, or presumably just above No Time to Die and A Quiet Place part II.
The news is better overseas, if only by default. It earned another $33.5 million worldwide, including a 45% overseas hold, for a running cume of $200.3 million overseas and $336.1 million worldwide. The ambitious but poorly-reviewed epic should still pass Black Widow ($380 million) and still end up with around $415 million global with a 40/60 domestic/overseas split. Whether it reaches Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($430 million) is a matter of how well it holds against Encanto over Thanksgiving weekend. It may not be a disaster, at least on a Covid curve, but it’s no rousing victory. Fortunately, Shang-Chi is this year’s top domestic grosser ($225 million) and a genuine crowd-pleasing favorite.
Izaac Wang, Darby Camp and Jack Whitehall in CLIFFORD THE BIG RED DOG
Paramount
Paramount’s Clifford: The Big Red Dog earned another $8.1 million (-51%) in weekend two, taking a hit from Ghostbusters: Afterlife and ending day ten with $33.513 million domestic. Clifford is hoping for a Thanksgiving bump, but otherwise it looks like a $55 million domestic finish, on par with Addams Family 2, for the $64 million flick. Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Dune earned another 3.065 million (-45%) in weekend five for a new $98.2 million cume. It’ll pass $100 million domestic over Thanksgiving, but how much farther it gets may depend on its place in this year’s awards race. The $165 million sci-fi fantasy has earned $367 million worldwide, with a likely end-point of around $385 million.
Tom Hardy as Eddie Brock in ‘Venom: Let There Be Carnage’
Sony
Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage earned $2.77 million (29%) in weekend eight, bringing its domestic cume to $206.47 million and its global cume to $455 million on a mere $110 million budget. It has passed the unadjusted domestic grosses of Thor: The Dark World ($206 million), Bad Boys for Life ($204 million) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($202 million). It should end with just over/under Venom’s $213.5 million domestic gross and around $500 million worldwide unless it snags a last-minute Chinese release date. That is a remarkable accomplishment with or without a Covid curve. Sony is doing at least as much as Disney to keep theatrical alive.
Lashana Lynch and Daniel Craig in ‘No Time to Die’
MGM
No Time to Die passed F9 as the biggest Hollywood grosser since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ($1.073 billion) in December 2019. And its current $579 million overseas cume is larger than anything out of Hollywood since Frozen II ($972 million out of $1.45 billion) in November 2019. The 25th official James Bond movie earned another $2.706 million (-40%) in weekend seven, another solid hold despite being concurrently available on PVOD. MGM, EON and Universal’s $250 million actioner has earned $154.7 million domestic and $734 million worldwide. At this rate, it should end up with around $161 million domestic and $775 million worldwide.
