Box Office Report for the Week of February 18

This Valentine’s Day week saw the release of two high-profile pictures, but it, unfortunately, was not webbin’ time in cinemas as the latest installment in the Sony Spider-Man Universe couldn’t muster up to Bob Marley: One Love, which made $27.7 million in its weekend, and over $51 million through its six-day tally, exceeding expectations and setting records as the biggest Valentine’s Day opening ever. A success like this is huge, despite the mixed reviews the film has garnered, and it will likely keep that spot next week, as it will be another dead weekend at the movies before Dune: Part Two obliterates expectations.

As for Madame Web, let’s say the environment for superhero movies is shifting, and audiences are finally rejecting the lousy ones. With a 13% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes (yes, it received a worse critical reception than Morbius, imagine that), the film grossed a mediocre $15.1 million during the weekend and a $23.3 tally for its six-day weekend. While its budget isn’t as considerable as The Marvels or The Flash, it’ll still end up losing money for the studio, whose Spider-Man Universe has been, so far, a nearly unwatchable disaster.

And yet, Sony will keep making movies since if they don’t produce a regular amount of Marvel titles, they will lose the rights to Disney. The franchise is clearly not working, and it’s time for them to pump the breaks and perhaps give the rights away to the Mouse, who will definitely do a much better job than they’re doing.

Another movie released over the weekend was the William Eubank-directed actioner Land of Bad, starring Russell Crowe and Liam Hemsworth. While the film received the best reviews compared to the two high-profile pictures, it’s also the one that made the least money out of the bunch, with a $1.8 million tally over a $28 million budget. Perhaps they will be able to make some money out of their relatively small budget but were overshadowed by films that had strong marketing campaigns, regardless of quality.

Here is the full list of the top ten films of the weekend:

1. Bob Marley: One Love (Paramount): $27.7M – 3,539 theatres
2. Madame Web (Sony/Marvel): $15.1M – 4,013 theatres
3. Argylle (Universal/Apple TV+): $4.7M (-24.5%) – 3,647 theatres
4. Migration (Universal): $3.7M (+27.7%) – 2,455 theatres
5. The Chosen: Season 4 – Episodes 4-6 (Fathom Events): $3.44M – 2,228 theatres
6. Wonka (Warner Bros): $3.40M (+11.2%) – 2,347 theatres
7. The Beekeeper (Amazon MGM Studios): $3.2M (-4.2%) – 2,557 theatres
8. Anyone But You (Sony): $2.4M (-8.9%) – 2,020 theatres
9. Lisa Frankenstein (Universal): $2.0M (-45.1%) – 3,143 theatres
10. Land of Bad (The Avenue): $1.8M – 1,120 theatres

Source: Box Office Mojo