Morbius has the biggest second-weekend box office drop for any adaptation of a Marvel comic. The latest entry in Sony's Spider-Man Universe opened after two years' worth of delays on April 1, 2022, and follows the story of Doctor Michael Morbius (Jared Leto) who, after experimenting on himself to cure a rare disease, begins to develop vampiric powers. The movie opened at number 1 at the box office with $39 million domestically and $45 million internationally for a worldwide opening weekend of $84 million.
Despite opening at number 1, the future looked very bleak for Morbius as the film was panned by critics as it currently sits with a 17% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences did not take to it kindly either as the film had the second-worst Cinema Score for a movie based on a Marvel Comic, only being beaten by 2015's Fantastic Four. Facing stiff competition in the month of April from high profile releases like Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and Fantastic Beast: The Secrets of Dumbledore, it seemed that Morbius would not come close to replicating the success Sony reached with its other Spider-Man spinoff Venom.
Morbius took a massive fall in its second-weekend box office with a $9.9 million haul. According to Forbes that is a 73.9% drop from the previous weekend, which is the biggest for any Marvel Comic adaptation, beating out the previous record-holder, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, which dropped 71.5%. It also tied with X-Men: Dark Phoenix for the biggest Friday to Friday drop at a massive 83%. The much-maligned Fantastic Four reboot dropped 68.2%, however, that film did have a smaller opening weekend than Morbius did.
Currently, Morbius has grossed $57 million domestically, meaning it has already outgrossed both 2015's Fantastic Four ($56 million) and is about $8 million behind X-Men: Dark Phoenix ($65 million). On account of the latter film's massive budget, it lost $100 million. While Morbius' worldwide total is now $126 million against a budget reportedly between $75 and $83 million, that does not account for how much Sony spent to market the film and how the profits from international grosses are split up. At this rate, Morbius likely will not surpass its budget domestically, putting the character's future in the franchise in doubt.
Sony likely had big plans for Morbius moving forward, setting up a Sinister Six film and a possible crossover with Venom. With Kraven the Hunter already filming and Madame Web in pre-production, it is unclear how those films may adjust to Morbius' underperformance and if Sony will course correct the projects and downplay Morbius' future significance in the franchise. With a poor box office performance and abysmal reviews from critics and audiences alike, it seems like this may be the last time the living vampire is seen on film for a long time.
Source: Forbes
