“Jungle Cruise,” a period comedic adventure that cost at least $200 million to make and another $100 million to market, collected about $34 million at 4,310 theaters in the United States and Canada, including Thursday-night previews, according to Comscore, which compiles box office data.
“There’s Covid, there’s simultaneous streaming, there’s piracy, there’s the nature of the movies themselves — different factors for each film.
To compare, “Black Widow,” the recent Marvel spectacle, collected roughly $60 million over its first three days of availability on Disney+ Premium Access.
Scarlett Johansson, who has played the superassassin Black Widow in eight films, sued Disney on Thursday, contending that making “Black Widow” on Disney+ at the same time it opened in theaters “dramatically” lowered box office revenue, which cost her tens of millions of dollars in compensation.
Ms. Blunt is no slouch in that department, either; her most recent film, “A Quiet Place Part II” , was a big hit in May, collecting about $48 million over its first three days in North American theaters and ultimately taking in about $300 million worldwide.
In addition, “Jungle Cruise” was based on a classic Disney theme park ride, giving it built-in audience awareness, and it had Disney’s unrivaled marketing machine revved up around it.
Going into the summer, Hollywood, citing the rollout of vaccines and pent-up demand, had high hopes for a box office surge.
Action adventures as a genre have struggled over the last decade, he noted, although the “Jumanji” series have been exceptions.
Because of the continuing coronavirus threat around the world, Disney noted, “markets are open to varying degrees and not all exhibitors are currently open.