Disney Rakes In $71M With 'Eternals' Opening Weekend

The Walt Disney Co. DIS took control of the U.S. box office this weekend with the premiere of its Marvel Cinematic Universe epic “Eternals,” which opened to $71 million in ticket sales from a release in 4,090 theaters.

What Happened: According to a Variety report, “Eternals” had the fourth-best U.S. opening weekend of the pandemic era, joining other Marvel-inspired titles “Venom: Let There Be Carnage” ($90 million), “Black Widow” ($80.3 million) and “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” ($75.3 million) as the year’s most popular new releases.

“Eternals” also took in $90.7 million in international markets, thus giving the film a $161.7 million global opening. Although the film is playing in several major international markets including the U.K., France and South Korea, the Chinese government has blocked its release due to critical remarks made by its director, China-born Oscar-winning filmmaker Chloé Zhao, about the nation’s Communist government.

The only other premiere release in the weekend top 10 was Neon’s “Spencer” starring Kristen Stewart as Diana, Princess of Wales – the film grossed $2.1 million from a 996-theater engagement.

What Else Happened: “Eternals” steamrolled “Dune” from AT&T’s T Warner Bros., which placed second in the weekend top 10 with $7.6 million in ticket sales. “Dune,” which is also in simultaneous streaming release on HBO Max, brought in a total of $89.3 million in U.S. ticket sales during its three weeks in domestic theatrical release. “No Time to Die,” United Artists Releasing’s 007 adventure, ranked third at the box office with $6.1 million in ticket sales during its fifth week in release.

Among the specialty releases, a pair of newly-released Indian films scored respectable showing for their limited venue engagements: “Sooryavanshi” grossed $1.3 million from 491 screens and “Annaatthe” brought in $940,000 from 398 theaters.

A minor mystery was the weekend box office return for Netflix's NFLX $200 million action flick "Red Notice," which played in a limited 750-screen release despite having box office stars Dwayne Johnson, Gal Gadot and Ryan Reynolds in the leading roles. Deadline reported that Netflix did not release its box office earnings on the "Red Notice" release but estimated it may have brought in $1.25 million. "Red Notice" premieres on the Netflix streaming service on Nov. 12.

What Happens Next: On Nov. 10, ViacomCBS’ VIAC Paramount Pictures is putting “Clifford the Big Red Dog” into release with a simultaneous theatrical and Paramount+ streaming presentation. The film had been removed from the company’s release schedule when it canceled its entire fall film slate in September out of concern that the Delta variant of the coronavirus would impact theater attendance. This marks the first Paramount release since the animated “PAW Patrol: The Movie,” which opened on Aug. 20

For the coming weekend, the major release is Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” from Comcast’s CMCSA Focus Features. This black-and-white coming-of-age drama set in Northern Ireland won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival and has been well received on the festival circuit.

Also in nationwide release is Eleanor Coppola’s romantic offering “Love is Love is Love” from Blue Fox Entertainment, featuring an all-star cast including Joanne Whalley, Chris Messina, Kathy Baker, Rosanna Arquette, Cybill Shepherd and Rita Wilson. Bruce Willis is back on the screen with the action film “Apex” from RLJE Films, while Andrew Garfield and Vanessa Hudgens star in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical-drama “Tick…Tick…BOOM!” from Netflix.

Over on streaming, “Home Sweet Home Alone” on Disney+ reboots the “Home Alone” franchise from the 1990s while Amazon’s AMZN Prime Video is premiering “Mayor Pete,” a documentary on Pete Buttigieg’s history-making 2020 campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination.

What Else Is Happening: Moviegoers in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar will not be able to see “Eternals” in their local theaters when the film opens in the Gulf region on Nov. 11.

The censors in the three nations reportedly objected to the inclusion of an openly gay superhero (Phastos, played by Brian Tyree Henry), who shares an on-screen kiss with his husband (played by Haaz Sleiman). Homosexuality is illegal in that region’s Muslim-majority nations and films with even the slightest hint of LGBTQ content are often banned, as was the case last year when Pixar’s “Onward” was blocked from release in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman due to a single line of dialogue alluding to a lesbian relationship.

However, “Eternals” is scheduled for release in the United Arab Emirates in its complete and unedited presentation. 

Photo: A scene from "Eternals," courtesy of Disney.