LOS ANGELES, (Variety.com)

Morbius, the latest comic book adventure from Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters, opened in first place at the domestic box office, though ticket sales were considerably softer than recent superhero blockbusters.

Dinged by comically terrible reviews, Morbius sunk its teeth into US$39.1 million from 4,268 North American theatres in its first weekend of release. That initial tally is at once a sign that audiences truly love comic book movies (in pandemic times, a non-superhero film with a 17 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes wouldn’t stand a chance at the box office) and an indication that not every superhuman character will be greeted equally on the big screen. (Sony’s 2018 antihero origin story Venom was similarly panned but still managed to score at the domestic box office with US$80 million to start and US$213 million in total).

Morbius took in US$44.9 million at the international box office, boosting its global total to US$84 million. Like many Hollywood movies, it’s unclear if Morbius will land a release date in China.

Sony spent US$75 million to produce the vampire-infused Morbius, which is less than studios typically shell out for superhero blockbusters. Marketing and other promotional costs added many millions more to expenses. Since Morbius the Living Vampire is not nearly as well known as Spider-Man, Batman or even Venom – who was introduced to general audiences in Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man 3 and later played by Tom Hardy in the standalone movies – film industry analysts were not expecting Morbius to break box office records.

Still, Sony has a lot riding on Morbius, which stars Jared Leto as Michael Morbius, a renowned biochemist who becomes a lethal vampire after attempting to cure himself of a rare blood disease. The studio majorly scored with Spider-Man: No Way Home (US$1.88 billion at the worldwide box office) and successfully spun Venom into cinematic gold (the first movie earned US$856 million globally and the 2021 sequel Let There Be Carnage earned US$501 million at the worldwide box office). But Sony has grander plans to fashion a viable rival to Disney’s Marvel Cinematic Universe, and a so-so turnout for Morbius signals that, in order to get audiences to go to theatres, these movies actually have to be watchable.

After Morbius, Sony’s Universe of Marvel Characters is chugging along with standalone stories on Kraven the Hunter, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Madame Web, featuring Dakota Johnson.

Daniel Espinosa directed Morbius, with a cast that includes Adria Arjona, Matt Smith, Jared Harris and Michael Keaton, reprising his role from previous ‘Spider-Man’ films.

Given the muted reception from critics and moviegoers (it landed a “C+ CinemaScore), box office experts do not expect Morbius will have a fruitful life on the big screen. It’ll face steep competition from younger male ticket buyers as Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (April 8) and Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (April 15) open in theatres.

“This is a weak opening by Marvel’s exceptional standard for launching a new superhero series,” said David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research.

He added: “Marvel movies are generally very well reviewed; here reviews are uncharacteristically poor.”

In a distant second place, Paramount’s action-adventure The Lost City collected a strong US$14.8 million from 4,283 venues in its second weekend of release. So far, the screwball romantic comedy, starring Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum, has grossed US$54.5 million at the domestic box office. Since the film cost US$68 million, The Lost City is not yet a commercial winner. However, it’s a promising sign that meet-cutes haven’t entirely fallen out of favour with moviegoers.

Another comic book tentpole, The Batman with Robert Pattinson, landed in third place with US$10.8 million from 3,732 theatres. After five weeks on the big screen, the Warner Bros. film has pulled in a mighty US$349 million at the domestic box office. The Batman has continued to be a force across the globe, crossing US$700 million over the weekend. The movie’s worldwide total now stands at a massive US$710.5 million.

For the second weekend in a row, Tom Holland’s video game adaptation Uncharted and Crunchyroll’s manga adaptation Jujutsu Kaisen 0: The Movie took spots four and five, respectively, on box office charts.

Uncharted brought in US$3.6 million from 3,064 cinemas, buoying its North American tally to US$138.9 million. Overseas, the US$120 million-budgeted tentpole added US$5.5 million from 55 markets. That takes Uncharted‘s tally to US$234 million internationally and US$373 million globally.

The anime film Jujutsu Kaisen 0, an unexpected box office champion, earned US$1.9 million from 2,070 screens in its third weekend in theatres. To date, the movie has grossed US$31 million.