The weekly box office has put up some amazing numbers, and not exactly for the better. Two of the most anticipated releases in recent months, ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ and Netflix’s blockbuster ‘The Invisible Agent’ have shown figures far below what was expected of them. Let’s see what conclusions we can draw from this pair of punctures.
The worst second week of Marvel. Although the first week of ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ at the US box office corroborated the good run of all Marvel movies this year, with figures higher than all the previous adventures of the character, its second week has presented very different numbers, beating not a very nice record. It has suffered the worst percentage drop in a Marvel movie to date: from 144.1 million dollars to 46 million in the second.
In other words, a spectacular fall of 68.1%, surpassing the previous production of the house that held this record: ‘Black Widow’ with a fall of 67.8%, only in this case it competed against itself. Scarlett Johansson’s film was released simultaneously on Disney +: in the end, as we will see, all the box office problems of films like this refer to a similar point, that of streaming exhibition.
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This is bittersweet news: the 68.1% drop is striking, but the film is making a very consistent run: it is still at number 1 for the week, followed by the new ‘Minions’ movie. And it has raised 500 million dollars, which is undoubtedly a very respectable amount and that will not put Disney in financial trouble. The problem is more in the direction in which it points.
Netflix: not all Top 10. With fewer hot cloths, we can talk about the performance of Netflix’s new blockbuster, ‘The Invisible Agent’, in which the platform has clearly placed great hopes, as can be deduced not only from its star-studded cast, but also from the direction of the Russo brothers, responsible for the most remembered films of the MCU. Its premiere on the platform will be on July 22, but a week before it has been in theaters.
This new film can be classified as a practically promotional premiere, since, for example, in the United States it has only been in 400 theaters. It is relatively understandable that (according to unofficial sources, because Netflix does not make its figures public) the film will not even gross $200,000. However, and although it can be thought that what Netflix is interested in is the exhibition on its platform, we have the case of a previous film with similar characteristics: ‘Red Alert’, its spy blockbuster with Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds , was seen in 750 theaters and raised 1.5 million dollars, a much more interesting figure for a testimonial passage through theaters.
The curse of 45 days. One possible cause of these drops is in the exhaustion of the reduction of the exhibition windowsso that in just 45 days after its theatrical release, a film can go to the platforms of streaming. It is a measure conceived during the very special conditions that occurred during the pandemic and that forced the closure of cinemas, but served to catapult the numbers of subscriptions to the services of streaming.
Platforms such as Disney, Warner or, to a lesser extent (since their business has always been, first and foremost, the streaming) Netflix did not have to ask anyone for permission to reduce the windows: it is what allowed Warner to release simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max for a whole year, giving its platform a considerable boost. Or that Disney tested a premium subscription system with simultaneous releases in movie theaters like ‘Mulan’ and that it has ended up abandoning.
However, this system that has worked so well for platforms in continuous growth may have come face to face with a fear that the most critical sectors, related to traditional exhibition, had: viewers have realized that it may not be worth it see a movie in theaters if waiting only five weeks they are going to have it on a platform for which they already pay a subscription. It hasn’t happened with other Marvel movies this year, but the lukewarm reception from critics and a section of fans to ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ may have left viewers with doubts to wait for the 45 days to expire.
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The case of Netflix and ‘The invisible agent’ may be even clearer: you only have to wait a week to see a film that, on the one hand, does not belong to any established franchise, so there is a certain risk when going to see her And on the other hand, the low rating of previous similar films on the platform, such as ‘Red Alert’ or ‘The Adam Project’, undoubtedly favors a more conservative approach to films by the public.
Of course, it is early to draw conclusions, and without a doubt they have to be nuanced with dozens of variables. On the one hand, ‘Thor’ is far from being a flop; On the other hand, we may never know the real scope of ‘The invisible agent’ once it arrives on Netflix. However, with protests from traditional exhibitors and releases increasingly focused on franchises and sequels, the 45-day window, a solution still far from fully established, remains one of the most enigmatic industry heirlooms in recent years. the pandemic.
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