Without Valentine’s Day date nights to bolster grosses, ticket sales for “Bob Marley: One Love” fell sharply on Thursday.
The drama about the reggae legend earned $3.8 million in its second day of release, a 73% drop from its debut that brings its stateside total to $17.9 million. The Paramount release is hoping to hit the right notes over Presidents Day. It is projected to earn $30 million to $35 million over the six-day holiday stretch.
Its main competition is from Sony’s “Madame Web,” which is the studio’s latest attempt to expand its Spider-verse of Peter Parker-adjacent heroes and villains. Sony has had a mixed track record, scoring with the likes of “Venom” while falling flat with “Morbius.” “Madame Web” grossed $2.2 million its second day of release, bringing its domestic total to $8.2 million. The film should earn $26.8 million over the extended holiday period. Sony will try again in August with “Kraven the Hunter,” which features Aaron Taylor-Johnson as the titular warrior.
Both of the new releases carry hefty price tags. “Bob Marley” cost $70 million and “Madame Web” has an $80 million budget (though that’s small change compared to other comic book adaptations, which are rarely produced for less than $100 million). They also require tens of millions in marketing spending and other distribution costs.
“Madame Web” was directed by S.J. Clarkson (“Anatomy of a Scandal”) and stars Dakota Johnson as Cassie Webb, a paramedic with clairvoyant abilities and a mom who researched spiders in the Amazon before she died. Sydney Sweeney, Tahar Rahim and Emma Roberts play supporting roles in a film that has been savaged by critics. “Madame Web” currently has an anemic 15% “rotten” ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
Kingsley Ben-Adir’s lead performance in “Bob Marley” got a lot of praise, but critics weren’t in love with the film, griping that it was too safe. Audiences disagreed, handing the movie an A CinemaScore, in contrast to the C+ that “Madame Web” earned. Reinaldo Marcus Green (“King Richard”) directs a cast that also includes Lashana LynchasRita Marley.
