Eternals: Box Office Projection Plunges After Bad Critic Reviews

Chloé Zhao, Barry Keoghan, Kumail Nanjiani, Lauren Ridloff, Kit Harington, Richard Madden and Gemma Chan make a surprise appearance at a fan screening of Marvel Studios’ “Eternals” in London, UK on October 28, 2021.

The box office projections for Marvel’s upcoming Eternals film took a significant hit after a number of critic reviews panned the film.

HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 18: (L-R) Kit Harington, Lia McHugh, Kumail Nanjiani, Producer and VP of Production & Development at Marvel Studios Nate Moore, Salma Hayek, Executive Producer and Marvel Studios Co-President Louis D’Esposito, Richard Madden, Director/Screenwriter Chloé Zhao, Gemma Chan, Producer and President of Marvel Studios and CCO of Marvel Kevin Feige, Brian Tyree Henry, Executive Producer and Executive VP of Production Marvel Studios Victoria Alonso, Lauren Ridloff, Don Lee, and Angelina Jolie arrives at the Premiere of Marvel Studios’ Eternals on October 18, 2021 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images for Disney)

Box office tracking website Box Office Pro originally projected back in the middle of October that Eternals would have a pretty big opening weekend between $82 million and $102 million.

The highest opening weekend at the box office so far in 2021 is Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The film raked in $90 million in its opening weekend. The second highest opening weekend was Black Widow with an $80.3 million opening.

That means that based on these original projections, Eternals would have the second highest or highest opening weekend of 2021.

Source: Eternals

Box Office Pro also projected the film would gross anywhere between $210 and $280 million in total at the domestic box office.

On the low end, that would make Eternals the second highest grossing domestic film of 2021.

Shang-Chi currently holds the top spot with a total domestic gross of $222.7 million. The next closest is Venom: Let There Be Carnage at $190.4 million.

Source: Eternals

However, those projections have been significantly lowered following a number of critic reviews panning the film. In fact, the film currently has a barely fresh review score.

As of writing, the film has a 60% Tomatometer score from 136 reviews. The average rating is 5.9 out of 10. There are 81 fresh scores and 55 rotten ones.

Source: Rotten Tomatoes

On Metacritic, the film has a mixed rating of 55 from 34 reviews. There are 15 positive reviews, 17 mixed reviews, and 2 negative reviews.

Source: Metacritic

Given these poor critic reviews, Box Office Pro has adjusted their box office projections for Eternals. 

They explain, “We’ve also updated preliminary ranges for Eternals based on revised models factoring in mixed critical reviews, which are impacting social media sentiment, and a potentially related slowdown in pre-sales activity for the next Marvel Cinematic Universe blockbuster.”

Source: Eternals

They now claim the film will have an opening weekend between $67 and $92 million. On the high end, that would be the highest grossing opening weekend of the year. However, on the low end, that sees the film tumble to the fifth highest opening of the year.

It would be behind not only Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Black Widow, but also Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, which brought in $75.3 million, and F9: The Fast Saga, which grossed $70 million its opening weekend.

Source: Eternals

On the total domestic gross, they predict the film will earn between $165 million and $215 million. On the high end, that’s good for second spot behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

However, on the low end that’s behind Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Black Widow, and F9: The Fast Saga. It would only edge out A Quiet Place: Part II by less than $5 million.

Of note, it would also perform worse than Black Widow, which was available to watch on Disney+ the day it was released in theaters albeit through Disney Premier Access for $30.

Bob Chapek, Alan Horn, Director/Screenwriter Chloé Zhao and Alan Bergman pose at the Premiere of Marvel Studios’ Eternals in Hollywood, CA on Monday, October 18, 2021
(Photo: Alex J. Berliner/ABImages)

What do you make of Eternals’ box office projections being adjusted downwards after poor critic reviews?

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