Box Office: Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag posts decent second weekend but remains far from profitability

Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag saw a steady second weekend at the box office, but with a USD 50M budget, the spy thriller remains far from turning a profit despite positive reviews.

Written by Seema Sinha , Entertainment Journalist

Published on Mar 24, 2025 | 06:31 PM IST | 13.4K

Picture Courtesy: Universal Pictures

Steven Soderbergh’s spy thriller Black Bag is struggling to recoup its massive USD 50 million production cost but is holding strong at the box office. In its second weekend (March 21-23), the film took the second spot with a USD 4.4 million domestic gross, sitting right beneath debutant Snow White. The film, starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett in the lead roles, dropped 42.1 percent from its opening weekend, taking its home market tally to USD 15 million. With another USD 9 million from overseas markets, Black Bag’s global haul as of this writing stands at USD 24 million.

Interestingly, the film is Soderbergh’s highest-rated outing, boasting a 97% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.

For those unversed, the film follows George Woodhouse (Fassbender), a British intelligence officer who is given one week by his superior to investigate the leak of a top-secret software program, Severus. The catch, though, is that the wrongdoer could be his wife, portrayed by Blanchett. Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan also star in the production.

Regarding the aforementioned struggle to recoup its production cost, the film possibly was never meant for a theatrical release, with distributors Universal and Focus Features using the medium only as a promotional tool. The offering will soon be released on PVOD, following a rollout pattern similar to Robert Eggers’ historical epic The Northman. The 2022 movie bombed at the box office but became a PVOD hit.

Soderbergh is reportedly already working on his next movie, titled The Christophers. Black Bag was the filmmaker’s second release of 2025 after the horror thriller Presence.

Released in January, Presence made around USD 10 million worldwide against a modest USD 2 million budget.

Black Bag is playing in theaters near you. You can watch it on the big screen or wait for it to land on home video. Other options currently in theaters include Captain America: Brave New World, Snow White, Novocaine, Mickey 17, The Monkey, and more. If looking to save for the theatrical experience in the coming days, the box office will house titles like A Minecraft Movie, Sinners, and more soon.