'Captain America: Civil War' Soars to $25 Million at Box Office Thursday
(From left) Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Elizabeth Olsen, and Sebastian Stan in ‘Captain America: Civil War’ (Photo: Disney-Marvel via AP)
By Rebecca Ford, The Hollywood Reporter
Disney and Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War kicked off summer at the U.S. box office Thursday night, earning a mighty $25 million in late-night showings.
The film earned $3.1 million in IMAX Thursday, a new Marvel record besting Avengers: Age of Ultron’s $3 million.
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Civil War, which centers on a disagreement that forces the Avengers to choose sides between Captain America/Steve Rogers’ (Chris Evans) and Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), is expected to have a much bigger domestic debut than the other Captain America films as this one includes many of the other Avengers stars, including Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, and Jeremy Renner. Plus, new additions to the Marvel cinematic universe Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Tom Holland) make their debuts.
The previous Captain America film, Winter Soldier, took in $10.2 million on Thursday night when it opened in April 2014. It earned $714.4 million worldwide.
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Almost exactly one year ago, The Avengers: Age of Ultron began its trip into U.S. theaters with a huge $27.6 million in previews. Many expect Civil War to play similarly to Ultron, which went on to earn $1.4 billion worldwide.
Civil War, which is this weekend’s only new wide release as the summer kicks off, is expected to come close to, if not cross, $200 million in its North American debut, which would place it as one of the top five openings of all time domestically, joining an elite club alongside Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million), Jurassic World ($208.8 million), The Avengers ($207.4 million), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.3 million), and Iron Man 3 ($174 million).
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Anthony and Joe Russo’s superhero film, which sees Captain America trying to protect his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) while dealing with the rift between him and Stark, began rolling out in foreign markets this past weekend, earning a massive $200.2 million overseas. That doesn’t include China, where it is set to open day-and-date with the U.S.
Marvel president Kevin Feige talks the ‘Captain America: Civil War’ story: