The Walt Disney Company announced today that the Black Widow box office has reached $215 million globally this weekend, including grosses from domestic and international markets, as well as Disney+ Premier Access.
The estimated numbers break down as follows: $80 million from the domestic box office; $78 million from overseas markets; and $60 million from Disney+ Premier Access consumer spend globally.
BLACK WIDOW BOX OFFICE
Black Widow is the largest domestic box office opening since the pandemic began and the largest domestic opening weekend since Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in December 2019.
The combined theatrical and Disney+ Premier Access opening makes Black Widow the only film to surpass $100 million in domestic consumer spend on opening weekend since the start of the pandemic. It is also the highest domestic opening weekend for a Marvel Cinematic Universe origin story after Black Panther and Captain Marvel.
Black Widow blasted its way to a record-setting $12 million on the worldwide IMAX network, with North America contributing $7.2 million of IMAX box office from 380 screens, a domestic per-screen average of over $19,000. Internationally, the film opened to $4.8 million of IMAX box office from 315 screens in 59 countries.
“The strong results for Black Widow confirm that where the pandemic is under control, audiences can’t wait to get back to the movies and The IMAX Experience,” said Rich Gelfond, CEO of IMAX. “Hollywood blockbusters continue to gain ground at the box office with each successive release, and that bodes very well for the many films lined up for exclusive worldwide theatrical release this fall and beyond.”
The movie features 22 minutes of select scenes in expanded aspect ratio exclusively in IMAX. With several scenes specially formatted exclusively for IMAX theatres, film fans can experience the movie on the massive IMAX screen at 1.90:1 aspect ratio – showing up to 26% more of the onscreen image.
“Once again, Marvel has delivered an exceptional film to the delight of fans worldwide with Black Widow achieving numerous milestones in the current marketplace,” said Kareem Daniel, Chairman, Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution.
“Black Widow’s strong performance this weekend affirms our flexible distribution strategy of making franchise films available in theaters for a true cinematic experience and, as COVID concerns continue globally, providing choice to consumers who prefer to watch at home on Disney+.”
“It’s incredible to see audiences enjoying Black Widow after two years without a new Marvel Studios film, and this spectacular opening weekend shows just how eager fans have been to see this beloved Avenger in her own story,” said Alan Bergman, Chairman, Disney Studios Content.
“There’’ no question it’s been worth the wait – Cate Shortland, Scarlett Johansson, and the Marvel Studios team have delivered an exceptional film that continues a legacy of creative excellence as the Marvel Cinematic Universe expands and enters a new era.”
Marvel Studios continues its creative excellence across multiple parts of the Disney ecosystem. Black Widow follows the successful recent launches of the Disney+ original MCU series WandaVision, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, and Loki as well as the June 4th opening of Avengers Campus, the all-new Land at Disney California Adventure Park.
To date, Marvel fans have streamed nearly 3 billion hours of content on Disney+, the company said today.
In Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) confronts the darker parts of her ledger when a dangerous conspiracy with ties to her past arises. Pursued by a force that will stop at nothing to bring her down, Natasha must deal with her history as a spy and the broken relationships left in her wake long before she became an Avenger.
Joining Johansson in the new feature film are Florence Pugh as Yelena, David Harbour as Alexei/The Red Guardian, and Rachel Weisz as Melina. Black Widow — the first film in Phase Four of the Marvel Cinematic Universe — is directed by Cate Shortland and produced by Kevin Feige.
Critical and audience reaction to the film has been very strong, with an A- CinemaScore, 92% Rotten Tomatoes Verified Audience rating, and 4.5 out of 5 stars from ComScore PostTrak polling.
We’ve got two reviews of the film which you can read here and here.