Who would win in a fight: reggae icon Bob Marley, or one of Marvel’s many superpowered Spider-people?
In hand-to-hand combat, Marley’s musical stylings are likely no match for good old-fashioned web-slinging. But when it comes to this weekend’s box office, Marley biopic Bob Marley: One Love trumps all — including Sony’s Madame Web.
The strange showdown is a result of both films opening on Valentine’s Day, with the potential to get extra mileage out of the Presidents’ Day long weekend. As of Feb. 17, Bob Marley: One Love tops the box office, having made $25.3 million against a $70 million production budget. The film stars Kingsley Ben-Adit and Lashana Lynch as Bob and Rita Marley.
Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson and Sydney Sweeney, trails in second, making $12.5 million total so far against an $80 million production budget. (For those keeping track of Sony’s Spider-Man Universe box office tallies, this does put Madame Web at the bottom of the pack, far below commercial and critical flop Morbius.)
Despite differing box office performances, neither film received particularly positive reviews. Siddhant Adlakha wrote in his review for Mashable that Bob Marley: One Love “never sinks to the level of unwatchable, but it’s actually something worse than boring. It’s a moral and intellectual void.” Meanwhile, Mashable’s Film Editor Kristy Puchko wrote that Madame Web “is burdened by too many threads and not enough fun.” According to her, it’s still better than Morbius, though!
Spy thriller Argylle is poised to take third place at the box office, but won’t even come close to making back its $200 million budget. Other contenders to round out this week’s top five earners are Illumination’s Migration, the Timothée Chalamet-led Wonka, and the theatrical release of The Chosen, a TV show about the life of Jesus Christ.