Eternals is the latest MCU movie to hit theaters this weekend, and it is already off to a fast start at the box office. In its opening night on Thursday, Eternals garnered $9.5 million, beating out Marvel’s last film, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which brought in $8.8 million on its opening night. This number is still the third-best opening night during the pandemic, coming in behind Black Widow and Venom: Let There Be Carnage.
Eternals is directed by Chloe Zhao and stars a massive cast including Salma Hayek, Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, and Lauren Ridloff. The film is about a group of immortal, powerful beings who look after the Earth and now must protect the Earth from an apocalyptic event. However, these beings can only interfere in Earth affairs when it involves a group of enemies known as the deviants. These characters are completely new to the MCU, and Eternals introduces many new concepts that expand the MCU as well.
Zhao is coming off a huge awards year as she won the Academy Award for Best Director for Nomadland, which also won Best Picture. However, Eternals thus far is having a mixed reception with critics as it currently holds a 50% from critics, making it the lowest score for any MCU film and the only MCU film to land below 60%. However, it should be noted that the audience score is relatively high at 86% after its Thursday night previews.
Still, Marvel is mainly hoping that Eternals makes money at the box office, and that seems to be the case so far. It has made $19.8 million in its first two days at the international market, and it is projected to hit $75 million in its opening weekend at the box office. Whether the poor word of mouth hurts the film going forward remains to be seen, but these numbers so far are promising.
