It isn’t normally newsworthy to announce the second-weekend box office results after a Friday. However, given the latest rumor that The Eternals may be rushed to Disney+ by Christmas to try to salvage interest in the film, today’s article could be apropos. Marvel has lost money on its last two films: Black Widow and Shang-Chi. Now, The Eternals is on track for the worst Marvel Cinematic Universe second weekend ever. In fact, the poor opening of The Eternals in the first weekend is leading to a second weekend that is so low it is beyond the worst projections cinema financial modeling could predict.
The film dropped more than 75% of its opening Friday total in the second Friday, earning only $6,243,758 at the domestic box office. As of the morning of November 13th, the film has earned just over $181 million. That means the film has yet to make back its production cost, not including its marketing expenditures. On top of that, theaters will be receiving a sizeable portion of revenue. If the second Saturday looks anything like Friday for The Eternals, the film could be on its way to costing The Walt Disney Company around $100 million in losses.
The Eternals Financial Modeling
Paramount didn’t have a much better experience either, though. Clifford the Big Red Dog opened to only $5 million. Animated family films can have a longer trajectory for box office revenues, especially near the holidays. For Clifford, it will be question of how long the giant CGI puppy can eek out reasonable ticket sales for keeping it on showings.
For more movie news, as well as updates on Marvel’s Phase 4 concerns, keep checking out That Park Place!
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Update: 9:15 AM EST, Monday, 11/15/2021
The Eternals put in a big Saturday, pulling the movie from a projected 70% drop to an estimated 61% drop (Sunday numbers are not yet in). This is still far short of what the film will need to bring it to profitability. If Sunday’s numbers were poor, the film may wind up closer to a 64 or 65% drop. Even with the large Saturday pull, That Park Place was within ten percentage points of the final tally using a combination of different metrics.
