The shuffling at the box office isn’t over just quite yet. Tuesday afternoon, word began to spread that Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage will soon be delayed to the January 2022 date currently held by Jared Leto’s Morbius. It’s in that same report by Vulture that suggests some other major tentpoles could move should the box office not right itself soon, with Chloe Zhao’s Eternals being used as an example.
While Vulture expects movies some movies to hold their release dates — the site labels Dune and Paramount’s Top Gun: Maverick as blockbusters expected to stay steady — others are still up in the air. In fact, the report specifically states if Shang-Chi has less-than-stellar results during its opening weekend, insiders suggest Disney could quickly pull Eternals from the schedule while waiting for consumer confidence to return to pre-pandemic heights.
Previous box office tracking for Shang-Chi pegs the Destin Daniel Cretton film as a $55 million earner during its opening weekend, around $25 million shy of what Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow made in the same time-period.
“As Disney’s first theatrically exclusive release of a tentpole film during the late pandemic and mid-vaccine era, this will be a true stress test of where moviegoing sentiment and comfort levels are at heading into the fall season,” BoxOffice Pro’s Shawn Robbins wrote in his analysis.
He added, “Recent moves to mandate vaccination passes in theaters across markets like New York City and Los Angeles could play an integral role in trends throughout the weeks ahead, potentially helping vaccinated moviegoers feel more safe to return.”
Black Widow has grossed around $500 million globally, $125 million, of which, has come from the movie’s listing as a Disney+ Premier Access offering. In addition to debuting in theaters, the film was also available on the Disney-owned streamer for an additional $29.99.
Eternals is currently set for release on November 5th.
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