A new report details that Gen Z and women did not show up to Marvel Studios’ latest film release, The Marvels.
(L-R): Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers and Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
According to IndieWire and PostTrack data only 19% of the film’s audience was between the ages of 18 and 24. The outlet reported that 8% of moviegoers were between the ages of 13 and 17.
These numbers are closely aligned with demographic information reported by Box Office Pro that detailed that 67% of moviegoers who saw the film were older than 25. That would mean that 33% were 24 and younger.
Box Office Pro also noted that 61% of moviegoers were male, meaning 39% were female.
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
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Ironically, The Marvels Executive Producer Mary Livanos noted back in August that the film was specifically designed for women.
She told Games Radar, “The Avengers movies are these epic conclusions to chapters of storytelling, whereas this is a team-up within the narrative that we didn’t necessarily expect for Marvel.”
“Usually, you wait for characters to show up all together in Avengers movies,” she added. “We were excited to design a team-up featuring characters that women from all walks of life could relate to.”
(L-R): Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan, Teyonah Parris as Captain Monica Rambeau, Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers, and Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
Analyst and insider WDW Pro commented on these numbers saying, “Now, if women across all of these various demographics account for something like 38% of that group then here is the catastrophic problem that The Marvels has and the MCU.
“If we look at the 13-17 group at 8%, that would mean that teenage girls only accounted for only about 3% of total The Marvels moviegoers in the first weekend,” he continued. “Let me say it again, this is absolutely the thing that the media should be talking about non-stop in every article…but they don’t know this is the narrative that is truthful. 3%, there abouts, of the first weekend [of The Marvels] came from teenage girls.”
WDW Pro then added, “And on top of that then if only 19% was the 18-24 crowd then that would put it at 7% women out of that group. And you put those together and what do you get? Women 24 and under total according to the data we have out of IndieWire, women 24 and under made up 10% of the audience for a movie that was aimed specifically at them.”
“And that is the catastrophic failure of this attempt,” he asserted. “Marvel has failed to create the kind of fervor that Barbie did. Marvel has failed to create the sort of excitement that other female films have somehow managed to catch wind of. The superhero genre seems like it not open to an easy path towards switching to a female demographic considering 10% of the women this movie was made for were the audience.”
(Center, L-R): Zawe Ashton as Dar-Benn and Daniel Ings as Ty-Rone in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2023 MARVEL.
It is indeed a catastrophic failure. Clearly, designing the film for women did not attract a larger female audience with only 39% of opening weekend moviegoers being female.
On top of that, total women going to see the film compared to previous Marvel movies was likely way down given the film posted the worst opening weekend box office in Marvel Cinematic Universe history. The film only grossed $46.1 million.
The film has also only sold 5,087,694 totals tickets domestically. If that 39% number from Box Office Pro is accurate that means less than 2 million women saw the film. 39% of 5,087,694 is 1,984,200.
Iman Vellani as Ms. Marvel/Kamala Khan in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
In contrast to The Marvels, Box Office Pro reported that women made up 65% of the opening weekend of Barbie. Barbie had an opening weekend of $162 million.
The film sold a total of 60,411,931 tickets during its entire theatrical run according to The-Numbers. If the gender breakdown stayed steady for the film’s entire that would mean women bought 39.2 million tickets for Barbie.
Margot Robbie as Stereotypical Barbie in Barbie (2023), Warner Bros. Pictures
Looking at Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Box Office Pro reported the film’s demographics were 60% male. The movie sold 34,092,669 tickets. If the demographics stayed steady that means that women 13.6 million tickets.
Obviously, there were significantly less people that showed up for The Marvels, but also there were even less women despite the female being specifically designed for them. A catastrophic disaster indeed.
Brie Larson as Captain Marvel/Carol Danvers in Marvel Studios’ THE MARVELS. Photo by Laura Radford. © 2023 MARVEL.
While attempting to chase a female audience, Marvel Studios chased away both men and female. Catastrophic might just be an understatement.
[…] RELATED: Report: Gen Z, Women Abandon ‘The Marvels,’ Only 19% Of Film’s Audience Between The Age Of 18 … […]