US Box Office is Having Best Weekend Since Sonic the Hedgehog’s Release

The U.S. box office is having the best weekend since Sonic The Hedgehog‘s release during Presidents Day weekend 2020. Movie theaters took a massive hit since closing at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. While many theaters were later given the green light to reopen, theaters struggled to bring in audiences and major film studios chose to either push their movie releases back or have a limited theatrical run and head to streaming early. Long-awaited blockbuster titles like Black Widow and No Time to Die have faced numerous release changes, with the studios determined to still give them theater debuts. Luckily for these studios, that strategy has paid off.

Marvel Studio’s long-awaited Black Widow is finally in theaters and available for purchase for $29.99 as a Premier Access title on Disney+. Since its original release date back in May 2020 was delayed due to the pandemic, Black Widow faced numerous release changes, with Disney and Marvel determined to keep it in theaters. With A Quiet Place Part II‘s opening weekend numbers back in May proving that theaters are back in business, box office projections for Natasha Romanoff’s solo film were high. The film has already broken a pandemic box office record, earning $13.2 million in its domestic opening night  and surpassing A Quiet Place 2’s $4.8M and F9‘s $7.1M. Now Black Widow has not only broken a record itself but has helped the entire box office break a record.

Related: How Black Widow’s New MCU Backstory Compares To The Comics

Per Deadline, all films at the weekend box office will surpass $100M, with an estimated $125M, making this the best weekend since the release of Paramount’s Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic the Hedgehog‘s release led all films over Presidents Day weekend 2020 to $156.1M. This is the first time the weekend box office will exceed $100M since the start of the pandemic and will now put Black Widow at a projected 3-day opening of $89M.

Reviews for Black Widow have been mostly positive, with critics praising the latest MCU film for its action sequences and the introduction of new characters. The first film of Marvel’s Phase Four introduces Black Widow’s past as she returns to her Russian roots. The film also introduces her non-biological family, including Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, David Harbour’s Alexei Shostakov and Rachel Weisz’s Melina Vostokoff.

Black Widow‘s box office opening has proven that movie theaters really are back and moviegoers are comfortable returning to cinemas. The new weekend box office record is especially impressive, considering that this is not a holiday weekend, unlike Sonic the Hedgehog‘s release weekend. While box office projections for Black Widow were strong, it’s huge news for the theater industry that this is the best domestic opening since the start of the pandemic.

More: Marvel Gave Black Widow Her Endgame Memorial Finally (And Then Ruined It)

Source: Deadline

About The Author