Having been starved of new releases from the MCU during the pandemic, Marvel fans get their third new movie of 2021 this week with the Chloe Zhao-directed cosmic superhero epic Eternals, and according to tracking estimates the Phase Four blockbuster is expected to gross around $75 million domestically from its opening weekend.
According to Fandango, Eternals is the second best pre-seller of the year behind fellow Marvel Studios release Black Widow, and the film had been tracking an opening of around $80 million although that figure has been adjusted down following mixed reviews and a 54% Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes (it’s the lowest-rated MCU movie on RT, and the first to have received a Rotten status).
Meanwhile, speaking to the Toronto Sun ahead of the film’s release, Marvel producer Nate Moore has addressed the possibility of future Eternals movies, specifically a trilogy of films, stating that Eternals 2 and Eternals 3 are “not something that is a must-have. Obviously, we have ideas of where we could go, but there isn’t a hard and fast rule where we have to have three of these things and this is the first.”
SEE ALSO: Read our review of Marvel’s Eternals here
“”Marvel Studios’ Eternals features an exciting new team of Super Heroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, ancient aliens who have been living on Earth in secret for thousands of years. Following the events of Avengers: Endgame, an unexpected tragedy forces them out of the shadows to reunite against mankind’s most ancient enemy, The Deviants.”
Eternals is directed by Chloe Zhao (The Rider) and features a cast that includes Angelina Jolie (Maleficent) as Thena, Richard Madden (Bodyguard) as Ikaris, Don Lee (Train to Busan) as Gilgamesh, Salma Hayek (The Hitman’s Bodyguard) as Ajak, Lauren Ridloff (The Walking Dead) as Makkari, Brian Tyree Henry (Child’s Play) as Phastos, Lia McHugh (American Woman) as Sprite, Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick) as Kingo, Kit Harington (Game of Thrones) as Dane Whitman, Gemma Chan (Captain Marvel) as Sersi and Barry Keoghan (Dunkirk) as Druig.