Marvel Studios’ Eternals may have been met with the worst reviews of the Marvel Cinematic Universe to date, but the Chloe Zhao-directed film has managed to ride the goodwill of the MCU fanbase to a global opening of $161.7 million.
As reported by Deadline, Eternals topped the box office in all of its key markets, including $71 million from North America (tracking estimates had put it at $75 million), $14.4 million from Korea and $7.1 million in the UK.
The $161.7 million debut is the second-biggest worldwide opening for a Hollywood movie this year after F9 on $162.4 million, although the latter figure didn’t include North America and the bulk of the opening came from China, where Eternals is not expected to release.
In terms of the MCU, Eternals’ debut is up 8% on Black Widow ($150 million) and up 26% on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ($128 million) in like for like markets, while its opening haul leaves it sitting just below Guardians of the Galaxy ($164 million) and Ant-Man and the Wasp ($167 million).
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Marvel’s Eternals here
While 2021 has been a shaky one for Marvel given its unprecedented run of success these past few years, things will surely rebound this December with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home… right?
“Marvel Studios’ Eternals features an exciting new team of Super Heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, The Deviants.”
Eternals is directed by Chloe Zhao (The Rider) and features a cast that includes Angelina Jolie (Maleficent) as Thena, Richard Madden (Bodyguard) as Ikaris, Don Lee (Train to Busan) as Gilgamesh, Salma Hayek (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) as Ajak, Lauren Ridloff (The Walking Dead) as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry (Child’s Play) as Phastos, Lia McHugh (American Woman) as Sprite, Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) as Kingo, Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) as Dane Whitman, Gemma Chan (Captain Marvel) as Sersi and Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk) as Druig.
