Published Mar. 22, 2022
Synopsis
Distributed by: Sony Pictures | Release Date: 4/1/22 | Run Time: 108 Minutes
American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Morbius; part of the Spiderman universe. Biochemist Michael Morbius tries to cure himself of a rare blood disease, but when his experiment goes wrong, he inadvertently infects himself with a form of vampirism instead.
Screening Notes
For me, there are two sides to the Marvel Universe: the fun, complex, likeable and collegial Avengers (Ironman, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow) and the dark, antihero side with Venom, Morbius, Blade, etc. Spider-man and the X-Men seem to straddle within a bit of both worlds.
So far, I’ve found the dark side not so much fun; they are intense, a bit humorless, with not nearly the multi-dimensional story lines and the central characters are really hard to rally around…plus they are pretty disgusting to look at.
Setting all that aside, I have to admit Jared Leto (as he is in all his roles) is mesmerizing to watch…what an incredible actor who brings an undeniable cool-factor to Dr. Morbius.
Boxoffice Estimate
Now, just because I don’t enjoy these types of films doesn’t mean they don’t strike gold with their core audience. Venom opened to $80M in Oct’18 and, while three years later, in Oct’21, the country was in the heat of battling COVID, Venom 2 opened to an eye-popping $90M! In addition to being part of the Marvel Universe, Morbius should get an added boost from Vampire movie fans (The Vampire Diaries, True Blood, Twilight…) who haven’t enjoyed new content in several years.
With an expected 4,000+ runs, my math lands at an opening weekend totaling $66.3M, with a range between $59M and $73M, and a total gross between $147M and $180M. Admittedly, my estimate is a little more aggressive than other industry analysts who have projected an opening weekend gross between $40M and $50M. My YTD projection analysis run-rate is 7% less than actual boxoffice performance.
Watch the Trailer !
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