The math is the math is the math and the Disney Grooming Syndicate’s Thunderbolts* aka The New Avengers is a dud.
With a reported $180 million production budget and an easy additional $100 million for publicity, Thunderbolts* would have to gross at least $500 to $550 million worldwide just to break even, and it is unlikely to hit $400 million.
After 17 days in release, three full weekends, Marvel’s latest dud sits at $155.4 million domestic and $325.7 million global.
Compare that to three previous Marvel movies widely regarded as flops…
After 17 days, Captain America: Brave New World sat at $163.5 million. It went on to make just $200.4 million domestic and $415 million global.
After 17 days, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania sat at $187.6 million domestic. It eventually grossed $214.5 million domestic and $476 million global.
After 17 days, The Eternals earned $136 million domestic and went on to gross $165 million domestic and $402 million global.
My hunch is that Thunderbolts* will gross less than The Eternals worldwide.
And this is it for Thunderbolts*. The run is over. This coming weekend, Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning and the live-action remake of Lilo and Stitch hit theaters and will swamp everything else.
I’m sorry, but Thunderbolts* stinks. It just does. As does its box office, which I’ve been saying — despite all the gaslighting from the entertainment media — from day one.
What this means is that with Captain America: Brave New World, Marvel has two box office duds in a row. Could the shameless groomers be looking at a three-fer when Fantastic Four: First Steps opens in July? There are reports First Steps is still doing reshoots, which is a terrible sign this late in the game.
Nothing is better for the movie business than when bad movies flop and great movies, like Sinners, shock everyone with their success.
Marvel is all same ol’ same ol’. Same ol’ CGI. Same ol’ lousy origin story. Same ol’ tired quips. Same ol’ lack of sex appeal. Same ol’ identity politics. Same ol’ overblown third act. Same ol’ homework required involving a bunch of lousy streaming shows to know who’s who and what’s what. Same ol’ sitting through ten minutes of credits to watch one more stupid scene.
The whole Marvel thing is tired. Everything since Endgame feels like an episode of AfterMASH.
John Nolte’s first and last novel, Borrowed Time, is winning five-star raves from everyday readers. You can read an excerpt here and an in-depth review here. Also available in hardcover and on Kindle and Audiobook.
