One of the more anticipated films of the year is Marvel Studios' Eternals. The cosmic epic has had many positive whispers over the years, hyping up its grand scale and unique qualities; now, after a long wait, fans can finally experience it in theaters.
While initial reactions to the movie seemed fairly positive, proper reviews started to paint a different picture. That picture was so different that Eternals ended up becoming the first MCU film to score as 'rotten' on Rotten Tomatoes.
The real question, however, is will those negative reviews impact the box office performance of the project in any significant manner? It's currently estimated to make $75 million domestically over the course of the film's opening weekend––just behind Black Widow's $80 million.
Now, the numbers for Eternals' Thursday night previews are in. How is it faring?
Eternals' Thursday Box Office Numbers
Marvel Studios' next film, Eternals, was released in roughly 39 material markets worldwide. Eternals is estimated to open at $75 million over the course of its first weekend.
Variety reported that the movie's box-office numbers for its domestic Thursday previews are holding strong, opening with $9.5 million. Those numbers are just behind Black Widow's $13.2 million and Venom: Let There Be Carnage's $11.6 million, making it the third-best preview night result for the pandemic era.
Eternals' haul is just ahead of Marvel Studios' previous release, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which made $8.8 million on its Thursday opening.
For its first two days of its international box office run, the outlet also shared that Eternals earned an estimated total of $19.8 million.
How Far Will Eternals Go?
While Eternals didn't rank number one when it comes to pandemic-era Thursday preview night sales, its numbers should still be celebrated.
But how will the film perform down the line? It's hard to tell if the movie will match its estimated $75 million opening given the mixed reception that it received prior to release; it may be a tall order for the project to blow past its original box office estimate.
Money and performance aside, Eternals is an exciting movie for Marvel fans. It tremendously advances the MCU mythos in fascinating ways and introduces new characters and ideas that will go on to be staples of the world audiences love so much.
Eternals is now available to see in theaters worldwide.
