The long-awaited Marvel movie — Black Widow — made a blockbuster debut in the pandemic era, capturing a massive $80 million in domestic theaters in its first weekend. The numbers easily surpassed the previous record of $70 million set by the “Fast and Furious” sequel, F9, last month.
Black Widow is the first Marvel movie released in two years. The film, starring Scarlett Johansson and Florence Pugh, was originally scheduled to hit theaters during the first half of 2020 before the pandemic pushed back its domestic release to 2021.
The movie grossed $78 million from 46 international territories, boosting its global box office haul to an impressive $158 million. Additionally, the female-led superhero movies also raked in more than $60 million on the Walt Disney
DIS
Plus platform, solely from customers paying $30 each for Premier Access. This marks the largest grossing movie for Disney since Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Dec 2019. All combined, “Black Widow” grossed more than $215 million in its first weekend (read:
3 Sector ETFs That Have More Room for Growth in Q3
).
Though the pandemic has led to a shutdown of theaters for more than a year, the wider reach of vaccine rollouts has been leading to reopening. About 81% of North American theaters are currently open, and most are operating at full capacity. Given this, the new Marvel movie marks a massive win for the North American film industry. This is especially true, as the total domestic box office collected about $117 million last weekend, representing the biggest weekend and the first-ever more than 100-million-dollar mark of the pandemic era in North America, according to data from Comscore.
With the solid debut of the Marvel movie, the 2021 box office is now running
only 30% behind 2020
with $1.32 billion. Given this, investors seeking to tap the recovering film industry could consider the following ETFs:
iShares Evolved U.S. Media and Entertainment ETF
IEME
This is an actively managed ETF that employs data science techniques to identify companies with exposure to the media and entertainment sector. Holding 89 stocks in its basket, media and entertainment industry takes the largest share at 87.4%. The fund has accumulated $19 million in its asset base and charges 18 bps in annual fees. It trades in paltry volume of around 7,000 shares.
Invesco Dynamic Media ETF
PBS
PBS seeks to offer capital appreciation by investing in companies that are selected on a variety of investment merit criteria, including price momentum, earnings momentum, quality, management action and value by tracking the Dynamic Media Intellidex Index. This approach results in a basket of 32 stocks with interactive media & services taking the largest share at 34.6%, followed by broadcasting (26.2%) and movies & entertainment (13.7%). The product has AUM of $125.4 million and an average daily volume of 36,000 shares. It has an expense ratio of 0.63% and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 (Hold) with a Medium risk outlook.
Invesco Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment ETF
PEJ
This fund tracks the Dynamic Leisure and Entertainment Intellidex Index and holds a small basket of 32 stocks. It is pretty well spread out across various securities and has substantial exposure to entertainment, and hotel, restaurants and leisure making up for 32.1% and 29.8% share, respectively, while media also make up for double-digit in the portfolio. The ETF has amassed $1.6 billion in its asset base and has 0.63% in expense ratio. PEJ trades in paltry volume of 701,000 shares and has a Zacks ETF Rank #3 with a High risk outlook (read:
5 Sector ETFs to Play Robust June Jobs Data
).
Communication Services Select Sector SPDR
XLC
With AUM of $14.6 billion, this ETF offers exposure to companies from telecommunication services, media, entertainment and interactive media & services. It follows the Communication Services Select Sector Index and holds 26 stocks in its basket. About half of the portfolio is allocated to interactive media & services, while entertainment, and media round off the next two spots. The product charges 12 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 4 million shares. It has a Zacks ETF Rank #2 (Buy).
Roundhill Streaming Services & Technology ETF
SUBZ
This ETF debuted in the space six months back and has amassed $34.2 million in its asset base. It is actively managed and offers exposure to the streaming industry. The fund consists of companies from across the globe that are actively involved in the business of streaming. It holds 40 stocks in its basket with the video industry occupying 39.2% of the assets. SUBZ charges 75 bps in annual fees and trades in an average daily volume of 24,000 shares.
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