MOVIE NEWS – Morbius bites back: bad reviews or not, the director is “proud” of the film, which debuted with $39.1 million at the box office.

Jared Leto’s new film Morbius has put a severe squeeze on the top spot at the box office with its opening weekend. The Marvel comic book adaptation, which is part of Sony’s Marvel universe along with the Venom films and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter, debuted with a solid $39.1 million at the US box office. Although the opening weekend is not an absolute record, as it is behind Spider-Man: No Way Home or The Batman, it is still impressive considering the reviews and gives Morpheus the number one spot by far.

Morbius landed bumpily on Rotten Tomatoes with a 17% critical score

In the film, Leto plays a man who becomes a “living vampire” after curing himself of a rare disease. While considered a financial success, the reviews have not been kind, with Morbius landing with a bumpy 17% critical score on Rotten Tomatoes. In contrast, the film scored 59% audience score in its first few days, so many fans still enjoy the film, which significantly clouds the picture. In any case, it remains to be seen how these negative reviews will affect Morbius in the future, but for now, the film stands as the king of box office hits.

The director of Morbius reacts to the bad reviews

As we’ve seen, the film reviews are not very glowing – we weren’t thrilled with it either. But director Daniel Espinosa has mixed feelings about his work. The new film, starring Jared Leto, establishes the actor as the latest addition to Sony’s Marvel universe, including Tom Hardy’s Venom films and the upcoming Kraven the Hunter. While Morbius had a pretty good weekend at the box office with its debut, critics were almost unanimous in disparaging the film.

Speaking to Insider, Espinosa said he is no stranger to criticism. He recalls an incident when a man he didn’t know approached him and told him how he could have done better on one of his films. It wasn’t very pleasant, although it wouldn’t have been the first time someone had thoughts about his work. Since then, Espinosa has become quite used to this, as there was no way to avoid his films being publicly available.

“When I did my first feature it was a small movie called Babylon Disease. I remember one day going home on the subway and I had a few drinks so I was a bit drunk. Someone nudged me on the train and said, ‘I have to tell you what’s wrong with the second scene in your feature,’ and I was like, ‘Well, okay.'”

Espinosa admits that he himself can be pretty critical of his own work, so in a way, he understands when he finds flaws in his films. Moreover, he sees criticism as constructive, as he always wants to improve as a filmmaker. Espinosa also says he is proud of Morbius, as he is of all his work.

“The point I’m making is that it’s a strange thing to make something that is so public. Look, I have a lot of self-hatred so I have a lot of criticism of my own work. I’m always trying to focus on being better.”

“But I am also proud of what I do. There are parts in all of my movies that I’m really proud of.”

The Morbius is currently one of the lowest-rated Marvel films, with a 16% bad score on Rotten Tomatoes. In fact, many of the moviegoers who went to see the film disagree with the review. However, its audience score is much higher, now at 70%, which is almost astronomical. For those who have seen the film and enjoyed it, this is yet another reminder that you can’t always trust the critics when it comes to what’s worth seeing.

Morbius has been in cinemas since 31 March.

Source: The Numbers, Insider