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By India McCarty
Experts are predicting a successful opening weekend for THUNDERBOLTS*, Marvel’s summer blockbuster season kick-off.
“Tracking suggests the movie will open in the $70 million to $73 million range domestically, and $160 million to $175 million globally,” The Hollywood Reporter wrote, admitting that, in the past, this wouldn’t exactly be a successful opening for Marvel.
“But times have changed, with tracking becoming more unreliable,” the outlet reported, explaining that Marvel and parent company Disney are also “stressing” over the fact that the cast of characters in THUNDERBOLTS* aren’t well-known.
THUNDERBOLTS* “assembles an unconventional team of antiheroes” for the movie, including Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost and Taskmaster, per Marvel’s website. After getting tricked into a mission that was supposed to kill them all off, the team must set their differences aside and work together to save themselves — and the rest of the world.
The movie might not feature the Marvel characters most of the world has grown accustomed to, but THR noted that “If word-of-mouth is strong, all bets are off” when it comes to box office numbers.
That word-of-mouth is already off to a good start — THUNDERBOLTS* has received favorable reviews from critics, and its Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at 89%.
THR’s review of the movie praised THUNDERBOLTS* for cutting down on the genre-typical “smug wisecracking” and introducing “a certain emotional fragility” to the MCU.
“Whether THUNDERBOLTS* can rescue the MCU from its doldrums remains to be seen when audiences weigh in,” the outlet wrote. “But it at least seems a step in the direction of creative renewal.”
Movieguide® also reviewed THUNDERBOLTS* positively for its “strong redemptive [and] moral elements about light overcoming darkness, family reconciliation and helping others.”
Actress Geraldine Viswanathan shared that THUNDERBOLTS* has the “classic” feel of older Marvel movies, telling The AU Review, “I just feel so fortunate to enter the universe in this particular movie, which just feels like such a breath of fresh air.”
Wyatt Russell, who plays John Walker, touched on the movie’s redemptive themes, telling the outlet, “You gotta get torn down and hit rock bottom before you can start your journey back to somewhere you want to be, or present yourself as the person you want to be.”
Despite worries over whether or not the movie features enough recognizable characters, it looks like THUNDERBOLTS* is gearing up to be the perfect kick-off for this summer’s blockbuster season.
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