Black Widow Crashes At Box Office, Gets Smoked By LeBron James’ Weak Space Jam Movie

Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) as Black Widow in Marvel Studios' BLACK WIDOW. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2020.

Marvel Studios’ Black Widow film saw its gross take at the box office crash in its second weekend, even getting beat by LeBron James’ weak Space Jam movie.

According to The-Numbers, Black Widow only brought in $26.2 million in its second domestic weekend getting beat by Space Jam: A New Legacy which earned $31.6 million in its opening weekend.

Black Widow previously earned $80.366 million in its domestic opening weekend, meaning the gross declined by an astounding 67%.

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(L-R): Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh on the set of Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

To put that in perspective, the most recent Marvel Cinematic Universe entry before Black Widow was Spider-Man: Far From Home, that film only had a 51% decline from its opening weekend and its second weekend. It earned $92.5 million in its opening weekend and $45.3 million in its second weekend.

However, that might not be the greatest comparison given Spider-Man: Far From Home had a unique opening strategy back in 2019, where it released on Tuesday, July 2nd to take advantage of the long July 4th weekend in the United States.

(L-R): David Harbour and Florence Pugh on the set of Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

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Before Spider-Man: Far From Home, there was Avengers: Endgame. It earned $357.1 million in its opening weekend and $147.38 million in its second weekend. Only a 59% drop.

Even Captain Marvel had less of a drop off than Black Widow. Captain Marvel earned $153.4 million in its opening weekend and it fell to $67.98 million in week two. Only a 56% decline.

Yelena (Florence Pugh) and Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) in Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

In fact, Black Widow now holds the title for the largest percentage decline in box office gross between opening weekend and a film’s second weekend in Marvel Cinematic Universe history.

That record was previously held by both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Ant-Man and the Wasp with both films having 62% declines from their opening weekends to their second weekend.

Spider-Man: Homecoming earned $117 million in its opening weekend and only $44.2 million in its second weekend. 

Ant-Man and The Wasp earned $75.8 million in its opening weekend and only $29 million in its second weekend.

Melina (Rachel Weisz) in Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

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On the international side, according to Screen Daily, Black Widow earned $56 million in its second weekend.

It previously earned $76 million in its opening weekend bringing its international total to $132 million. Much of the gross has come from South Korea, the United Kingdom, and France.

The film has not opened in China.

Taskmaster in Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Not only is Black Widow performing terribly compared to previous Marvel Cinematic Universe films at the box office, but it missed box office analyst projections by a long-shot.

The-Numbers predicted that the film would defeat Space Jam: A New Legacy at the box office by earning $36.4 million. It underperformed by over $10 million.

However, Box Office Pro did predict it would earn $25.9 million, so it slightly overperformed their projections with $26.2 million.

(L-R): Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) and Taskmaster in Marvel Studios’ BLACK WIDOW, in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access. Photo by Jay Maidment. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

As for Space Jam: A New Legacy, while it did earn the number one spot at the box office with $31.6 million, it failed to best the original Space Jam’s 1996 opening weekend box office haul.

The original Space Jam opened with $27.5 million. However, if you adjust for inflation that’s $47.6 million.

Space Jam: A New Legacy did beat The-Number’s box office projections, who had it at $19.6 million. And it barely edged out Box Office Pro’s projection at $26.4 million.

Related: Disney And Marvel Studios Tout Black Widow Success, Reveal $60 Million Disney+ Haul

Source: Space Jam: A New Legacy

What do you make of Black Widow’s terrible performance in its second weekend at the box office? What do you make of LeBron James’ Space Jam getting trounced by Michael Jordan’s original film?

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