Venom: Let There Be Carnage exceeded expectations at a time when the box office was still struggling to recover from the worst of the pandemic, while Spider-Man: No Way Home would later break countless records. Morbius probably won't find a similar level of success, however, because Deadline's early estimates point to a $50 million debut at the North American box office.
That's a solid enough result, but also the lowest opening for Sony Pictures' "Venomverse" movies. Venom netted $80 million and Venom: Let There Be Carnage ended up topping that with $90 million.
There's a strong chance Morbius will fall well below those estimates because the early social media reactions have been abysmal. A fan screening for Venom: Let There Be Carnage in the UK last year generated plenty of positive responses that would ultimately be featured heavily in the sequel's marketing campaign. That hasn't been the case with this movie, however, as you can see here.
Assuming the reviews are as negative, fans may decide to give Morbius a miss, and it will be interesting to see what sort of impact that has on Sony's future plans. The post-credits scenes have been torn apart by many critics - a reminder, perhaps, that Avi Arad spearheading this universe isn't a great idea.
Spider-Man: No Way Home generated a lot of goodwill for Sony, so it would be a shame for that to be thrown out as a result of a less than stellar take on the Living Vampire.
Morbius arrives in theaters on April 1. Check back here soon for our review.
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