The latest Eternals opening weekend box office projections have the film's debut matching Shang-Chi. For years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been the film industry's premier franchise, finding tremendous box office success with a wide variety of titles. Since the MCU started back in 2008, Marvel has been able to turn even the most obscure comic book titles (Guardians of the Galaxy) into mainstream, household names. Earlier this year, they struck gold again when Shang-Chi broke Labor Day box office records, cementing the hero's place as Marvel's newest Avenger.

Up next for the MCU is Eternals, an ambitious work that introduces 10 new superheroes to the franchise. Eternals is one of the fall's most anticipated movies, in part because of the star-studded ensemble cast bringing the characters to life. That excitement should translate into more box office success for Marvel. Early Eternals opening weekend projections had the movie pegged for the biggest opening of Phase 4. With the film gearing up for release, the updated estimates are a little different, but still point to a fruitful debut.

Related: Why Eternals Rotten Tomatoes Score Is So Bad and How Low Will It Go?

Per Deadline, Eternals is expected to gross $75 million domestically in its opening weekend. This figure would essentially match Shang-Chi's three-day start of $75.3 million (Shang-Chi earned $94.6 million over the extended Labor Day weekend). If these projections hold true, Eternals would not top Black Widow's $80.3 million opening from July.

Thena with a spear and a shield made of cosmic energy in Eternals

The initial Eternals box office estimates suggested the film would open between $82-102 million domestically. Those projections came out in mid-October, before the Eternals reviews were the worst in the MCU. It holds the title of the franchise's first rotten film on Rotten Tomatoes, which could impact its box office prospects. By now, Marvel's earned enough clout with moviegoers to be considered critic-proof, but this will still be an interesting test to see how a mixed response impacts the MCU's box office. More casual audiences who aren't fully invested in the MCU may opt to stay home and wait for Eternals to be available on streaming. In all likelihood, it will hit Disney+ 45 days after theatrical release.

Eternals is also one of the longest Marvel movies to date, which limits the number of daily screenings theaters can show. Plenty of films with protracted runtimes have been very successful at the box office (including Avengers: Endgame), but this is still a factor to consider when predicting Eternals' box office. Still, the movie seems poised to be a solid draw for Marvel. Whether or not that means Eternals sequels come through the pipeline remains to be seen, though it doesn't look like this will be a box office flop.

Next: Black Widow & Eternals Have the Same MCU Formula Problem

Source: Deadline

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