Marvel Studios' Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) and Red Guardian (David Harbour). However, that was before COVID-19 shut down theaters and delayed Black Widow more than a year.
After going through the F9 have proven audiences are ready to return to cinemas to watch new blockbusters, which raised box office projections for Marvel's latest movie.
Black Widow has only just opened in theaters, but it didn't waste any time setting a pandemic box office record. The opening night domestically saw the movie earn $13.2 million according to Deadline, as MCU fans flocked to theaters to see the long-awaited film. Black Widow's $13.2M opening night crushes the previous records set by F9 ($7.1M) and A Quiet Place 2 ($4.8M). This start for Black Widow is also better than fellow MCU movies like Guardians of the Galaxy ($11.2M).
Black Widow's opening night is an excellent start for the movie as it looks to break a few pandemic box office records. Opening weekend projections for the movie have it beating F9's opening, with some estimates having the Marvel blockbuster suring $100M in its first three days. That seems well within reach after this opening, especially considering how Black Widow stacks up against fellow MCU titles. Ant-Man and the Wasp earned $75.8M in its opening weekend, while Guardians of the Galaxy ballooned to $94.3M in the same time frame.
There is a chance that Black Widow will be more front-loaded than its MCU predecessors though. There was a huge pent-up demand to see a new MCU movie in theaters, so eager fans could've flocked to the opening night showings specifically. It will be interesting to see how well interest holds as the weekend continues. Ticketing services have reported strong pre-sale figures for Black Widow early on, but there's no way to know how the Disney+ access will affect the box office either. Since Black Widow has received positive reviews, though, hopefully those who feel safe and comfortable returning to theaters will do so with the latest MCU installment.
Source: Deadline
