David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Sebastian Stan, Florence Pugh and Wyatt Russell in “Thunderbolts*.”
Disney/Marvel Studios
The Disney and Marvel Studios comic book movie Thunderbolts*, starring Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and David Harbour, is done playing in theaters. Where did the film end up financially?
Directed by Jake Schreier, Thunderbolts* kicked off the summer moviegoing season on May 2. The official summary for the latest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe reads, “Marvel Studios assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes — Yelena Belova (Pugh), Bucky Barnes (Stan), Red Guardian (Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) and John Walker (Wyatt Russell).
“After finding themselves ensnared in a death trap set by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfuss), these disillusioned castoffs must embark on a dangerous mission that will force them to confront the darkest corners of their pasts. Will this dysfunctional group tear themselves apart, or find redemption and unite as something much more before it’s too late?”
Thunderbolts* opened at No. 1 at the domestic box office with $74.3 million from 4,330 North American theaters in its opening weekend, May 2-4 and held onto the top slot for another weekend before Final Destination Bloodlines took the box office crown away from the film the weekend of May 16-18.
Also known as The New Avengers, Thunderbolts* last day in theaters was Thursday, as indicated by The Numbers’ weekly streaming count list. According to The Numbers, Thunderbolts* earned $6,454 from 20 North American theaters to bring its final domestic box office take to $190,274,328.
Combined with the film’s international ticket sales of $192,162,037, the worldwide box office tally for Thunderbolts* ended up at $382,436,365.
However, the $382.4 million Thunderbolts* earned in ticket sales at the worldwide box office is the amount the film grossed in theaters and is not representative of the final net.
Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell and David Harbour in “Thunderbolts*.”
Disney/Marvel Studios
How Much Did ‘Thunderbolts* Need To Make To Break Even”
According to a June 12 report in Variety, Thunderbolts* cost $180 million to produce and $100 million more to market. The expenses, however, don’t end there. Generally speaking, 50% of what a film makes at the box office goes to theater owners, plus there are other residual and miscellaneous expenses that films incur.
As such, Variety reported in June, Thunderbolts* needed to earn $425 million worldwide just to break even, so the final theatrical gross of $382.4 million means the film lost tens of millions of dollars. There are ways, however, that Disney can defray that deficit.
Among them, Variety noted, was how the “company can recoup some costs through Disney+ and other home entertainment markets, to say nothing of the massive revenue streams from merchandising, theme parks and cruises.”
Whether those additional revenue streams will make the Thunderbolts* whole, however, is yet to be determined.
For viewers who missed Thunderbolts* in theaters or want to see it again, the film is available on digital streaming but is not yet available on Disney+.