Sony's 'Morbius' finally bares fangs at box office after delays
The Lost City (NASDAQ:PARA
-0.7%, PARAA
-0.2%) dethroned The Batman (T
+1.1%) last weekend - but never fear, as yet another superhero/antihero movie arrives at the box office this weekend to try its luck.
Sony's (SONY
-0.1%) Marvel-verse gets bigger with the release of the much-delayed Morbius, a story of a scientist working to cure his blood disease with vampire bat DNA that ends up transforming him.
The film, starring Jared Leto, was originally set to come out in summer 2020 before a number of pandemic delays. And it's more properly part of Sony's Spider-Man universe, featuring some Marvel Comics characters to which Sony has film rights rather than Disney (DIS).
The lesser-known character is expected to drive a much more modest opening than the type associated with Spider-Man (Spider-Man: No Way Home is far and away the pandemic's biggest hit), though it still has a good chance of topping The Lost City, which should see a fall-off from last weekend's $30.5 million haul.
As for The Batman (T
+1.1%), over four largely unchallenged weeks, it's run its cumulative domestic take to just under $337 million, and a worldwide total of $677.8 million.
In more limited release, Apple (AAPL
-0.7%) is bringing its Best Picture Oscar winner CODA back to more than 600 theaters - most likely many North Americans' first and best chance to see the film live, as it's been exclusive to Apple TV+. CODA became streaming's first Best Picture winner Sunday.