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Black Widow snags $215M in biggest opening since pandemic began

The debut is the third highest for a Marvel movie origin story.

Steven Musil Night Editor / News
Steven Musil is the night news editor at CNET News. He's been hooked on tech since learning BASIC in the late '70s. When not cleaning up after his daughter and son, Steven can be found pedaling around the San Francisco Bay Area. Before joining CNET in 2000, Steven spent 10 years at various Bay Area newspapers.
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Black Widow was a winner at home and the theater this weekend.

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Marvel superhero movie Black Widow raked in an estimated $215 million worldwide at the box office in its opening weekend, Disney announced Sunday. The debut represents the largest domestic box office opening since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and Marvel's third highest domestic opening for an origin story after Black Panther and Captain Marvel.

The latest installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe made its worldwide debut Friday in movie theaters and on the Disney Plus streaming service, the latter with a $30 Premier Access fee.

But apparently the theater was the place to see the movie for many fans, as the movie earned $80 million at the domestic box office, $78 million in international box office receipts and more than $60 million through Disney Plus Premier Access worldwide.  

"Black Widow's strong performance this weekend affirms our flexible distribution strategy of making franchise films available in theaters for a true cinematic experience and, as COVID concerns continue globally, providing choice to consumers who prefer to watch at home on Disney Plus," Kareem Daniel, Chairman of Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution, said in a statement.

Black Widow follows Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) on an espionage-tinged quest as she unravels a conspiracy linked to her past, in the wake of 2016's Captain America: Civil War. The film was set to come out in May 2020, but the pandemic forced Disney to delay the long-awaited solo adventure multiple times.

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