Black Widow suffers the steepest drop for any MCU movie in its second weekend in theaters. Ever since March 2020, box office performance has been deeply altered by the coronavirus pandemic. Theaters were closed for much of 2020, and the few major movies that were allowed to debut by the end of the year performed on much smaller levels than they would've normally. Recent weeks have indicated the start of a very slow recovery process, with once-delayed arrivals A Quiet Place Part II and F9 putting some life back into theaters.

Black Widow, the very first movie on the MCU's expansive Phase 4 slate, finally arrived last weekend after multiple delays. Though it was widely acknowledged that the Scarlett Johansson-led film wouldn't debut to the same numbers the MCU typically courts, it was expected to bring in much-needed crowds to theaters. Sure enough, Black Widow scored the biggest opening weekend of the pandemic with a $80 million domestic total and soon became the fastest movie to cross the $100 million mark since the pandemic began.

Related: Black Widow: All Easter Eggs, MCU Connections & Hidden Details

Going into weekend two, Black Widow was expected to top the box office once again. However, as Deadline reports, the movie fell a whopping 67% to earn $26.25 million. That puts it behind new release Space Jam: A New Legacy, which overperformed in a big way to earn $31.65 million. Black Widow's steep drop is the worst of all the MCU, surpassing the 62% decrease from Ant-Man and the Wasp in 2018. After 10 days in theaters, Black Widow's domestic total is $132 million. Worldwide, it stands at $264 million.

Black Widow in a field at the end of the movie.

Last weekend, Disney shocked the entertainment industry by revealing that, in addition to earning $80 million from theaters, Black Widow pulled in $60 million globally from Disney+ Premier Access, where it is also available. It was the first time a studio had released streaming figures in such a way, and it indicated Black Widow found great success on an alternate platform. It is likely fair to say that the streaming availability also contributed to the large second weekend drop, though blockbusters oftentimes struggle with frontloaded grosses.

This does not make Black Widow a failure, as the box office is still recovering and producing numbers that are lower than normal. Black Widow was always going to be an odd case for the MCU as the first movie out of the gate since the pandemic, as well as being one that is available on Disney+. What this shows, though, is that those who were especially eager to see Black Widow turned out last week, and the fervor might be decreasing already. The movie could have some long legs over the next few weeks, though with the Disney+ income, one might say it doesn't need to rake in as much box office cash as normal to earn a profit. After all, it has other ways of boosting its total.

More: Why Black Widow Cost So Much To Make

Source: Deadline

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