Black Widow Beats Ant-Man and the Wasp, Guardians of the Galaxy With Box Office Previews

The MCU is finally back in the theaters after over two years since Spider-Man: Far From Home hit theaters. Black Widow was initially set to release on May 1, 2020, but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was ultimately delayed over 14 months.

Starring Scarlett Johansson, Florence Pugh, and David Harbour, Black Widow is just the second female-led MCU solo film. The story is set to center around learning more about Natasha Romanoff's adopted family while taking on the threat of the mysterious Taskmaster.

The film is releasing in theaters as well as on Disney+'s Premier Access, putting into question how much the blockbuster will gross at the theatrical box office. The Direct recently predicted that Black Widow would bring in $95 million on opening weekend.

Now, the first glance at the box office for Marvel's latest has just been released. 

BLACK WIDOW OFF TO A HOT START

According to Deadline, Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow grossed $13.2 million at the domestic box office 5 pm preview showings. That is easily the best of the year so far, as F9 made $7.1 million opening night followed by A Quiet Place Part II making $4.8 million.

Black Widow's Thursday night outperformed the opening of MCU movies Ant-Man and the Wasp ($11.5 million) and Guardians of the Galaxy ($11.2 million). Ant-Man and the Wasp went on to make $75.8 million opening weekend and Guardians of the Galaxy ultimately grossed $94.3 million.

Avengers: Endgame, which currently holds the box office record for Thursday previews, opened at $60 million.

HOW BLACK WIDOW COMPARES

Black Widow is off to a hotter start than Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant-Man and the Wasp, but it is also just behind a couple of other MCU hits. Chris Hemsworth's Thor: Ragnarok grossed $14.5 million opening night and Tom Holland's Spider-Man: Homecoming brought in $15.4 million. 

This is an incredibly promising start for Black Widow and a sign that audiences in the U.S. and Canada are ready to go back into the theaters. According to The Numbers, Black Widow's $13.2 million preview earnings rank 43rd all-time. 

Preview box office results aren't the most reliable when projecting totals for the opening weekend. For example, the aforementioned Ant-Man sequel made more than Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman on opening night but almost $30 million less opening weekend.

Ant-Man and the Wasp grossed $75.8 million compared to Wonder Woman's $103.2 million at the domestic box office opening weekend. Black Widow will likely fall somewhere in between by the end of the weekend.

Will Black Widow hit The Direct's lofty prediction of $95 million, though? Stay tuned to find out. 

Black Widow is now playing in theaters across the globe and streaming on Disney+ via Premier Access.