A new spy movie starringMichael FassbenderandPierce Brosnanhas pulled off a box office feat. Fassbender is a versatile actor who is perhaps best known for playing the young Magneto in theX-Menprequel movies beginning with 2011’sFirst Class. However, in addition to starring in big-budget genre movies such as the superhero franchise,Assassin’s Creed, andPrometheus, he has starred in a variety of dramas such asShame,A Dangerous Method,Song to Song,Steve Jobsand12 Years a Slave, the latter two of which earned him Oscar nominations.
While Pierce Brosnan does not have any Oscar nominations under his belt,he does have ample experience in the spy genre, having starred in fourJames Bond moviesbetween 1995 and 2002. He played the iconic superspy inGoldenEye,Tomorrow Never Dies,The World Is Not Enough, andDie Another Day, stepping into the role after the two-movie tenure of Timothy Dalton and before the Daniel Craig era, which spanned five movies. Brosnan has also starred in a variety of other notable movies, includingMamma Mia!,The Thomas Crown Affair,Black Adam, andMrs. Doubtfire.
Black Bag Has Climbed An Important Chart
Black Baghas leaped onto a major box office chart. The new spy movie, which was directed by Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh (Ocean’s Eleven,Erin Brockovich,Contagion,Magic Mike), follows British intelligence officer George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) attempting to discover a mole and suspecting that it might be his wife Kathryn (Cate Blanchett). The star-studdedBlack Bagcastalso includes Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, and Pierce Brosnan. In spite of its star power,it premiered at No. 2 at the domestic box officewith a $7.6 million debut that saw it fall behind fellow new releaseNovocaine.
Novocaineis an action-comedy about a man who can’t feel pain that stars Jack Quaid, Amber Midthunder, Jacob Batalon, and Ray Nicholson.
PerThe Numbers,Black Baghas now grossed $14.6 million worldwide. This means that the movie has now outgrossed Steven Soderbergh’s 2018 thrillerUnsane, which made $14.3 million worldwide, to becomehis 25th highest-grossing movie of all time, either as a director, producer, or executive producer. When counted solely among his directorial efforts, the new spy movie ranks even higher than the filmmaker’s Top 25 chart, landing at No. 17, just below 2002’sSolaris, which made $14.97 million worldwide.
What This Means For Black Bag
It May Not Breach The Top 20
It seems highly likely that theBlack Bagreleasewill continue to climb the all-time chart of Steven Soderbergh movies.It should be quite easy for the spy movie to climb at least one spot more or less immediately, as it only has to close a gap of $0.36 million in order to surpass the next-highest movie, the science fiction adaptationSolaris. However, there is a wider gap to cross after that. Below, see a breakdown of the five movies ahead ofBlack Bagon the chart:
#25
$14.6 million
#24
$14.97 million
#23
$31.6 million
#22
$33 million
#21
$36.4 million
#20
Sex, Lies, and Videotape(1989)
Writer-Director
$36.7 million
OnceBlack BagoutgrossesSolaris, to climb just one more place up the chart, it will have to earn an additional $16.63 million, which ismore than it has earned altogether at the time of writing. However, if it hits that milestone, it would be much easier for it to climb further, as in order to break into the Top 20 Steven Soderbergh movies, it would only have to make $5.1 million more, passing three other titles in the process.
However, getting very far beyond the Top 20 seems unlikely.The entirety of the filmmaker’s Top 10 consists of movies that earned more than $100 million, ranging from the 2002 Christopher Nolan movieInsomnia($113.6 million), which he executive produced, to the 2001 heist thrillerOcean’s Eleven($450.7 million), which he directed. GivenBlack Bag’s trajectory, it seems highly unlikely to ever come close to that blockbuster range.
Our Take On The Black Bag Box Office
It Still Has A Long Way To Go
AlthoughBlack Bagmay be performing comparatively well to otherSteven Soderbergh movies, including his 2025 horror moviePresence($9.8 million), the 2006 sci-fi thrillerA Scanner Darkly($7.4 million), and the 2006 George Clooney thrillerThe Good German($6.7 million), one hindrance to its overall commercial success is the fact thatit is not performing at the level required by its mid-sized budget.
Movies typically need to earn back two and a half times their budgets in theaters in order to turn a profit.
TheMichael FassbenderandPierce Brosnanmovie reportedly cost between $50 and $60 million, which likely means that its break-even point is somewhere between $125 and $150 million, and potentially more depending on how much was spent on advertising, which is not included in movies' production budgets. Given the fact thatBlack Baghasn’t even scratched the surface of $15 million toward the end of its first week in worldwide theaters,this range seems entirely out of its reach during its theatrical run.
