Overall business rocketed ahead of this same weekend last year by 78%, which was led by Avengers: Age of Ultron's second weekend take of $77 million (being that this weekend last year was the 2nd weekend of the summer season, its not a direct apples-to-apples comparison).
As expected, it was the latest from the Marvel Cinematic Universe that made a major tidal wave at the box office this weekend. Captain America: Civil War pitted the Cap vs. Iron Man and the results were nothing short of spectacular, $181.8 million from 4,226 locations ($43,017 per-venue average, the sixth-biggest of all-time). That ranked as the fifth-biggest opening weekend in history (and third for the MCU), trailing Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million), Jurassic World ($209 million), The Avengers ($207 million) and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191 million). This is yet another smash in what is turning to be a banner year for Disney, following Zootopia and The Jungle Book. While analysts were a little too optimistic (many put this over $200 million for the weekend), there is absolutely no way this can be called a disappointment (no "Avengers" in the title could have trimmed down a bit of interest from general audiences), and at the same time, this is certainly no sign of fatigue for the superhero genre. Another thing of note, Civil War outpaced the opening of Batman v. Superman ($166 million), despite starting off behind it on opening day.Civil War received fantastic reviews (91% on Rotten Tomatoes), and an "A" CinemaScore. With no real competition until X-Men: Apocalypse and fellow Mouse House flick Alice Through the Looking Glass both debut in three weeks over Memorial Day Weekend, there's a good chance this could ultimately hold better than Age of Ultron and perhaps remain in this list until well into June. In addition to Alice, Disney still has the long-awaited Pixar sequel Finding Dory, Steven Spielberg's The BFG and a remake of Pete's Dragon all lined up for the summer. The riches are going to keep on coming.
As for the MCU, Civil War is the start of what is going to be an ambitious Phase 3, with Doctor Strange (which had a spectacular teaser trailer) set to open in November next. Also in the works are solo films for Black Panther and Spider-Man (who both make their first appearances in this movie), new adventures for Guardians of the Galaxy, Thor and Ant-Man, as well as a female-led superhero movie in Captain Marvel and a two-part Avengers threequel.
Overseas, Civil War got off to a massive start over the last two weeks. After $202 million overseas last week, it pulled in another $220 million from just about all markets, for almost $500 million overseas picked up already ($681 million worldwide in two weeks, already ranking 5th for 2016). It is incredibly likely this will pass $1 billion within the next week or two, and could be on its way to a similar trajectory to Age of Ultron ($1.4 billion). Disney lowered their projections to $175 million earlier this week, and the budget here was a massive (as expected) $250 million.
Disney was #1 and #2 this weekend as three-time champ The Jungle Book did have its hardest drop this weekend in the face of the Marvel mashup. The remake of the Disney animated flick was down 50% to $21.9 million, for a still strong $285 million in 24 days. The critically-acclaimed flick should recover next weekend. It's coming close to $800 million worldwide in just five weeks.
With the titular holiday being today, Mother's Day surprisingly rebounded from its disappointing start last weekend. The Garry Marshall comedy actually upticked 8% from last weekend to $9 million, for a still not great $20.7 million. While it was expected to hold well, an uptick is incredibly rare. On a budget of $25 million, the film will likely fall down to earth next week. Though this unexpected kind of jump will probably help it wind up escaping from "flop" territory altogether.
On the other hand, The Huntsman: Winter's War collapsed. The fairy tale flop was off 63% in the face of Cap and company to $3.6 million, for a weak $40.4 million gross in 17 days. Despite nearly $150 million earned worldwide, the prequel/sequel still hasn't done enough to break even with marketing costs included.
Surprisingly falling even harder was Keanu. The Key and Peele comedy was down an alarming 67% to $3.1 million, for a $15.1 million gross in 10 days, matching its budget. This may have a hard time reaching $25 million stateside. Barbershop: The Next Cut followed with a 56% drop to $2.7 million, for a still very solid $48.8 million gross in 24 days. The comedy sequel won't reach $60 million now, though that won't matter in the face of a $20 million budget.
Disney's third movie in the Top 10 was also affected by Civil War, as Zootopia suffered its hardest drop yet, off 50% to $2.68 million. The animated hit is at a huge $327.6 million gross in 10 weeks of release (a rarity for films to hang that long in the Top 10), and an amazing $956 million worldwide. Japan is slowing down, so this may or may not be able to hit $1 billion now. But I don't think Disney is complaining.
The Boss was down 59% to $1.75 million in its fifth weekend, for a decent $59.1 million pick-up in one month of release. Last weekend's clunker, Ratchet and Clank, clearly took a massive hit from Civil War, down a huge 70% to $1.5 million. The video game adaptation has earned a terrible $7.1 million in 10 days and probably won't even hit $10 million stateside.
Rounding out the Top 10 in its seventh week was fellow superhero mashup Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, which took the biggest hit of all (unsurprisingly), freefalling 73% to $1.05 million. Warner Bros. critically-panned start of their DC Universe has picked up $327.3 million in 49 days, falling behind Zootopia domestically, and won't even finish with twice its opening weekend, making this one of the most front-loaded performances in history. Its' at $865 million worldwide, and almost out of gas. Not the massive hit Warner Bros. was hoping for, but will still wind up in the black.
Next weekend, Jodie Foster's buzzy Money Monster opens with George Clooney and Julia Roberts starring. Horror flick The Darkness also opens in what will likely be another Civil War win. Stay tuned for more info.
