Morbius (film)
Morbius is a 2022 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures in association with Marvel. Distributed by Sony Pictures Releasing, it is the third film in Sony's Spider-Man Universe (SSU). Directed by Daniel Espinosa and written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless, it stars Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius, alongside Matt Smith, Adria Arjona, Jared Harris, Al Madrigal, and Tyrese Gibson. In the film, Morbius and his surrogate brother Milo become living vampires after curing themselves of a rare blood disease. After announcing plans for  a new shared universe of films inspired by Spider-Man characters beginning with "Venom" (2018), Sony began developing a film based on Morbius. Sazama and Sharpless had written a script by November 2017, and Leto and Espinosa officially joined in June 2018. Work on the film began at the end of the year with further casting, ahead of production starting in London in February 2019. Filming was confirmed to have been completed by June 2019. "Morbius" premiered at the Plaza Carso in Mexico City on March 10, 2022, and was released in the United States on April 1, 2022, after  being delayed several times from an initial July 2020 date primarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The film received negative reviews from critics who criticized its writing, visual effects, and especially its mid-credits scenes, although Smith's performance was commended. It has grossed over $161.5million against a $75–83million budget, making it the eighth highest-grossing film of 2022. Plot. At a hospital in Greece, 10-year-old Michael Morbius welcomes his surrogate brother Lucien, whom he renames Milo; they bond over their shared blood illness and desire to be "normal". Their adoptive father and hospital director arranges  for Morbius to attend medical school in New York while he focuses on caring for Milo. 25 years later, Morbius publicly declines a Nobel Prize for his work with synthetic blood. His colleague Martine Bancroft discovers he has secretly captured dozens of vampire bats from Costa Rica in the hope of splicing their genes with his own to cure his condition. After informing Nicholas and Milo of his planned illegal experiment, Morbius receives funding from them to outfit a private mercenary vessel in international waters with his equipment. While the cure works, it transforms Morbius into a vampire, who kills  and drains the crew of their blood after they attack him out of fear. Once his bloodlust subsides and he regains his senses, a horrified Morbius erases all CCTV footage of his experiment before contacting the authorities and jumping overboard. Morbius returns to New York and discovers he now has superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, and echolocation, with his vampire bats treating him as a bat. He subsists on his synthetic blood until it gradually ceases to satisfy his needs. FBI agents Simon Stroud and Al Rodriguez investigate Morbius' victims and deduce his involvement. Milo learns that Morbius is cured, but  becomes furious when Morbius refuses to cure him as well. While checking on a hospitalized Bancroft, Morbius finds a dead nurse, drained of her blood. Believing he was responsible, he attempts to escape before being cornered and arrested. In prison, he is visited by Milo, who offers to use his wealth to free him. Upon realizing Milo took his cure and killed the nurse, Morbius escapes to confront him. An unrepentant Milo confesses to his bloodlust-induced crime and urges Morbius to embrace his powers as he has. Unwilling to hurt his brother, Morbius flees. Morbius meets Bancroft to explain  what Milo has done before acquiring a new lab and developing an anticoagulant to stop and kill Milo; he also plans to use it on himself since he will become unable to resist his bloodlust. Stroud and Rodriguez find footage of one of Milo's attacks and, believing Morbius' vampirism to be spreading, release it to the media. Nicholas recognizes Milo and pleads with him to stop. Angered by Nicholas' perceived preference for Morbius, Milo wounds and forces him to call Morbius, who watches Nicholas die while Milo attacks Bancroft. Morbius returns to Bancroft, but she dies in his arms  and he drinks her blood. Morbius confronts Milo and summons an army of bats to restrain him and inject the anticoagulant. Milo dies and Morbius flies off with the bats, mourning his loved ones and embracing his identity as a vampire. Unbeknownst to him, Bancroft is revived as a vampire herself elsewhere, having ingested a drop of Morbius' blood whilst he was feeding on her. In a mid-credits scene, Adrian Toomes finds himself transported to Morbius' universe. Having deduced that his transportation involved Spider-Man, Toomes approaches Morbius and suggests that they form a team. Cast. Corey Johnson portrays  mercenary Mr. Fox, while Michael Keaton cameos in the mid-credits scenes as Adrian Toomes / Vulture, reprising his role from the MCU film "" (2017). Production. Development. Artisan Entertainment announced a deal with Marvel Entertainment in May 2000 to co-produce, finance, and distribute several films based on Marvel Comics characters, including Morbius, the Living Vampire. Previously, the character was set to appear in "Blade" (1998), portrayed by director Stephen Norrington in a cameo appearance ahead of a larger role in a sequel. However, the character was cut from the first film and not introduced in "Blade II" (2002) after Norrington  chose not to return for that film. In May 2017, Sony announced plans for a new shared universe featuring Spider-Man-related properties beginning with "Venom" in October 2018; this was later titled "Sony's Spider-Man Universe". In July, "" (2017) director Jon Watts expressed interest in featuring Morbius and Blade in the then untitled "" (2019), believing that the character's dark tone could work well within the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). That November, Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless submitted a script to Sony for a "Morbius" film, after a "secret development process" at the studio. Jared Leto became "loosely  attached" to star in the title role, but would not commit to the film until he was happy with its direction; Leto asked to personally meet with several director candidates. By the end of April 2018, Sony had approached Antoine Fuqua about potentially directing the film. He expressed interest in taking on the project, and said that if he was to make a film in the superhero genre he would want to make it "something that's closer to what I get excited about." He ultimately chose not to take on the project. Other directors that Sony approached about the  film included F. Gary Gray, who considered directing the film but ultimately turned down the role, and Daniel Espinosa, who previously directed the film "Life" (2017) for the studio. In May, while on tour in Germany with his band Thirty Seconds to Mars, Leto met with Espinosa to talk about the film, and the pair were both confirmed for the project at the end of June. Avi Arad, Matt Tolmach, and Lucas Foster were producing, and filming was expected to begin by the end of 2018. Sony was expected to fit the film into its already-set Marvel release slate  shortly. Pre-production. By the end of September, Sony was intending for production on the film to take place in Atlanta, Georgia—where "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and "Venom" were previously produced—but had still not set a release date for the film. Screen Rant's Cooper Hood opined that Sony was likely waiting to see the response to "Venom" in early October, with Arad confirming at that time that there was excitement at Sony to produce "Morbius", especially due to the story of a "healer that becomes a killer, and how do you deal with [that?]" Tolmach said the project  was "very far along" at that stage and they were now planning to begin filming in early 2019, with the intention that "Morbius" would be the second film released as part of Sony's shared universe after "Venom". He added that Leto was bringing the same "intensity" to the film that he had brought to playing the Joker in "Suicide Squad" (2016). By November, box office analysts believed that "Venom" had been successful enough for Sony to move ahead with other films like "Morbius", and at the end of that month the studio dated an untitled Marvel film that was  believed to be "Morbius" for a July 10, 2020, release. Adria Arjona entered negotiations to portray the film's female lead, Martine Bancroft, in December; her involvement was confirmed a month later when Sony pushed the release date to July 31, and Matt Smith also joined the cast in an undisclosed role. Art Marcum and Matt Holloway made uncredited contributions to the film's script. Filming. Principal photography began during the last week of February 2019 in London, under the working title "Plasma". Oliver Wood served as cinematographer for the film. With the start of filming, Jared Harris and Tyrese  Gibson joined the cast as Morbius's mentor and an FBI agent hunting Morbius, respectively. Smith was reported to be portraying the villainous Loxias Crown / Hunger, though he was later revealed to be playing an original character named Milo who is similar to Loxias Crown. Harris was revealed to be portraying Dr. Nicholas, a mentor and father figure to both Michael and Milo. In March, filming took place in Manchester's Northern Quarter, doubling for New York City. A month later, Gibson revealed that he was portraying Simon Stroud, and that Al Madrigal had been cast as his partner, Alberto  Rodriguez. At the end of the month, Justin Haythe was believed to have contributed to the film's script. Filming was scheduled to take 12 weeks, and "Venom" producer Amy Pascal said in June that production had "just wrapped" on the project. Post-production. In September 2019, Sony announced a new agreement with Disney that extended a previous deal to have Marvel Studios and its president Kevin Feige produce a sequel to "Far From Home", keeping Spider-Man in Marvel's shared universe, the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As part of the new agreement, Feige stated that moving forward the MCU 's Spider-Man would be able to "cross cinematic universes" and appear in Sony's own shared universe as well. This interaction was said to be "a 'call and answer' between the two franchises as they acknowledge details between the two in what would loosely be described as a shared detailed universe". The film's first trailer, released in January 2020, included a brief appearance by Michael Keaton, reprising his role as Adrian Toomes / Vulture from the co-produced Marvel Studios Spider-Man film "Spider-Man: Homecoming". Some of Keaton's scenes had to be reshot when the events depicted  in "" (2021) did not properly coincide with "Morbius". Certain moments, such as Morbius walking past a graffiti painting of Spider-Man, were added in the film without Espinosa's knowlege, only to be removed in the final film. Reshoots for the film began in Los Angeles by early February 2020, and were finished a month later when film productions around the United States were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of March, the film's release date was pushed back to March 19, 2021, due to the pandemic closing theaters around the world. In January 2021, the  film was delayed again, first to October 8, 2021, and then to January 21, 2022, when "No Time to Die" was moved to the October 2021 date. At the end of January, Leto revealed that additional reshoots were taking place in mid-February. The film's release was moved back another week at the end of April 2021, moving to January 28, 2022. At the start of January 2022, the film was delayed to April 1, 2022, due to the box office success of "Spider-Man: No Way Home" which Sony hoped would continue throughout early 2022. Later that month , Corey Johnson was revealed to have a role in the film. In March, visual effects supervisor Matthew E. Butler revealed that motion capture technology had been used for Leto to portray Morbius's vampiric form. Espinosa cited "Pokémon" as an influence on the portrayal of Morbius's powers, specifically singling out the series's use of light and color to depict the title creatures' attacks and abilities. Music. By October 2019, Jon Ekstrand was set to compose the score for "Morbius" after doing the same for Espinosa's previous films. Ekstrand's score was released digitally by Madison Gate Records  on April 8, 2022. Marketing. The teaser trailer for the film was released on January 13, 2020. Julia Alexander at "The Verge" described the premise of the film as presented by the trailer as "ridiculous", while Matt Goldberg of "Collider" felt it looked "silly" and also noted that the film looked very similar to "Venom", which he acknowledged was commercially successful. Scott Mendelson, writing for "Forbes", agreed with the comparison to "Venom" which he felt was a good move by Sony due to the success of their last few "Spider-Man" films, but cautioned that Leto may not have the  same box office draw for general audiences that Tom Hardy gave to "Venom". Much of the discussion surrounding the trailer centered on the revelation of Keaton's role and the visual reference to Spider-Man, which led to questions about the film's relationship with the "Spider-Man" films and the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe. A second trailer was released on November 2, 2021, and led to further confusion and speculation about the film's connections to other franchises. Fans and commentators noted that the trailer, in addition to the "Venom" films, also references Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" trilogy , Marc Webb's "The Amazing Spider-Man" films, and the MCU "Spider-Man" films despite all three franchises being set in different fictional universes. Prior to the film's theatrical release, Espinosa clarified that "Morbius" is set in the same universe as the SSU "Venom" films. In March 2022, Sony used their "TheDailyBugle.net" promotional TikTok account, previously used for "", to market "Morbius"; the videos feature Nicque Marina reporting on events relative to the film. Release. Theatrical. "Morbius" had its world premiere at the Plaza Carso in Mexico City on March 10, 2022, and was released in the United States on  April 1, 2022, in IMAX and other premium large formats. It was originally set for release on July 10, 2020, before moving three weeks later to July 31. The film was then delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, firstly to March 19, 2021, then to October 8, 2021, and to January 21, 2022, before moving a week later to January 28. It was then delayed again to the April 2022 date. Sony chose not to release the film in Russia due to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. Home media. Sony signed deals with Netflix and Disney in April 2021  for the U.S. streaming and TV rights to their 2022 to 2026 film slate, following the films' theatrical and home media windows. Netflix signed for exclusive "pay 1 window" streaming rights, which is typically an 18 month window and included future Marvel films in Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Disney signed for "pay 2 window" rights for the films, which would be streamed on Disney+ and Hulu as well as broadcast on Disney's linear television networks. Reception. Box office. , "Morbius" has grossed $71.5 million in the United States and Canada, and $90 million in other territories, for  a worldwide total of $161.5 million. In the U.S. and Canada, "Morbius " was projected to gross around $33 million from 4,200 theaters in its opening weekend, with some industry tracking going as high as $40–50 million. The film earned $17.3 million on its first day, including $5.7 million from Thursday preview screenings. It went on to debut to $39 million, finishing first at the box office. Opening-weekend audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 62 % positive score (with an average 2.5 out of 5 stars), with 47% saying they would definitely recommend it. The C+ score is the second-worst of any Marvel adaptation, ahead of only "Fantastic Four" (2015). In its second weekend of release in the US and Canada, the film grossed $10.2 million and finished second behind newcomer "Sonic the Hedgehog 2", while experiencing a drop of 74%, the second-worst of all time for a superhero movie, behind only "Steel" (1997), and the worst of any tentpole superhero movie. It fell to sixth place at the box office in its  third weekend, grossing $4.7 million (a drop of 54%), and dropped to ninth place in its fourth weekend with $2.3 million (a drop of 51%). Outside the US and Canada, the film earned $44.9 million from 62 international markets in its opening weekend, including $2.5 million from IMAX screens. It added $15 million in its second weekend for a drop of 62%. In the third weekend it made $6.7 million and $3.3 million in its fourth. Critical response. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 16% based on 244 reviews , with an average rating of 3.8/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "Cursed with uninspired effects, rote performances, and a borderline nonsensical story, this dreary mess is a vein attempt to make "Morbius" happen." It ranks as the 17th worst-reviewed superhero movie on the site. Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 35 out of 100 based on 54 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Indo-Asian News Service described the film as having been "utterly ravaged" by critics, and "Yahoo! News" reported reception as being "comically bad". Jonathon Crump of "Manchester Evening News" noted that despite mixed  reviews, some critics "praised the acting in the film, including Leto's performance". "Variety"s Ellise Shafer also said while the reviews were negative overall, Smith "did receive some praise for his performance". Reviewing the film for "Collider", Emma Kiely felt that the "central problem of "Morbius" is a lazy and uninspiring script" and added that "no weight or depth is given to any character." She also noted that there is "little humor" in the film and "when it tries to make a tongue-in-cheek joke, it fails miserably." Barry Hertz of "The Globe and Mail" panned the film, saying  it "is charmless, incoherent, ugly and so aggressively stupid that it defies any attempt to shove it into the desperate 'guilty pleasure' box." Wendy Ide of "The Observer" gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, calling it an "incoherent, vampire-themed Marvel offcut." Hannah Strong of "Little White Lies" also gave the film 1 out of 5 stars, describing it as "soulless, tedious filmmaking". Richard Roeper of the "Chicago Sun-Times" awarded the film 2 out of 4 stars, saying: "It looks like "Morbius" might soon cross paths with Spider-Man in one universe or another, but that would  be a big step up for him, because his introductory vehicle feels more like a just-average 1990s vampire movie." Mick LaSalle of the "San Francisco Chronicle" awarded the film a 3 out of 4 and called the film "briskly riveting" and a "perfect antidote to bloated "The Batman"". Chris Bumbray of "JoBlo.com" gave the film a 6 out of 10 and called it "a decent enough start for the latest addition to the Sony Spider-Man Universe" while also praising the cinematography and "horror aspects" of the plot. Leah Greenblatt of "Entertainment Weekly" gave the film a B grade , saying that Leto "hits the right notes of fear and longing in a surprisingly restrained performance". Stephanie Zacharek of "Time" commended Leto's performance writing that it has a "quietly vibrating vulnerability". "The Hollywood Reporter"s David Rooney said the film "only intermittently matches the intensity" of Leto's performance and wrote: "It's just a shame this opening salvo takes itself too seriously to have much fun with the mayhem, despite the potential in Smith's devilish turn for amusing interplay between the antagonists." Matt Donato of "IGN", who awarded the film a 5 out of 10, praised Smith's  performance for providing a "colorfulness the film desperately needs", saying that his "flamboyance and spirit is the antithesis to Leto's drearily dour genius, which is a purposeful but inefficient comparison", and unfavorably compared Leto's solemn performance to Tom Hardy's "campy" performance in the "Venom" films." The mid-credits scene also came under heavy scrutiny. Kate Erbland of "IndieWire" stated, "This is confusing stuff, and the appearance of Keaton in a pair of [mid-credits] scenes does little to help the sense that "Morbius" is mostly incoherent, or at least very at odds with whatever it's trying  to say." Paul Tassi of "Forbes" said that Adrian Toomes' motivation made little sense and opined that "[a]ll of this seems... pretty poorly mapped out at the moment... It's more like [Sony] stole Toomes from the MCU rather than added Morbius to the MCU, which was more the original implication." Julia Glassman of "The Mary Sue" found the overall reveal weak, stating, "I'm beginning to wonder if Sony just... doesn't quite get the point of [mid-credits] scenes." "Time Out"'s Cathy Brennan felt that the film's "attempts" to "court an audience by dangling a potential  connection" to the MCU's Spider-Man is "the worst kind of unearned fan service in a film this lacklustre." Future. In January 2021, Leto said there was potential for Morbius to appear alongside the character Blade in a future project, with Mahershala Ali cast in that role for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). That December, in discussing the introduction of the multiverse in "" (2021), Leto said there was potential for further crossovers with his character in future films. Tom Holland also expressed interest in seeing his version of Spider-Man from the MCU fighting Morbius in the future, while  producers Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal confirmed interest in a potential film starring both Leto and Ali. In March 2022, Leto also expressed interest in a future film featuring Morbius appearing alongside Venom, portrayed by Tom Hardy. During CinemaCon 2022, Sony announced numerous Marvel projects. Some outlets noted that while "Venom 3" and "Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse" were announced, there was no announcement for a "Morbius" sequel; leaving the character's future in question.