The domestic box office has been strong lately, with five weekends in a row earning over $100 million. However, this past weekend saw a slight dip due to fewer big releases. Studios are saving their major films for Memorial Day, so the next couple of weeks will rely heavily on how well Thunderbolts holds up. Meanwhile, Sinners continues to do surprisingly well.
Thunderbolts’ Opening Weekend
Marvel’s Thunderbolts opened with $76 million domestically from 4,330 screens, averaging $17,552 per screen. While this is decent, it fell short of expectations and even opened lower than Captain America: Brave New World, which debuted with $88.5 million earlier this year.
Critics gave it an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, and audiences seemed to like it, scoring it 94% and an “A-” on Cinema Score. However, an “A-” is slightly lower than most MCU films, which usually get “A” or “A+” ratings.
Here’s how the weekend breakdown looked:
- Thursday Previews: $11.5M
- Friday: $31.5M
- Saturday: $24.5M
- Sunday: $20M
The audience was mostly male (64%), and the largest demographic was Caucasian (42%), followed by Hispanic (24%) and African American (18%). Nearly half of the earnings came from premium formats like IMAX and 3D.
How It Stacks Up Against Other Marvel Films
Thunderbolts didn’t open as strongly as some other Marvel movies, but it’s in the same range as Ant-Man and the Wasp ($75.8M opening) and Shang-Chi ($75.38M opening). It performed somewhat better overseas, bringing in $86.1M for a total of $162.1M worldwide.
Other Movies Doing Well
– Sinners had another strong weekend, dropping only 28% and earning $33M, bringing its domestic total to $179.7M.
– Disney’s Snow White crossed $200M globally, though its domestic earnings are still modest at $86.12M.
What’s Next?
Next weekend’s releases are smaller films like Clown in a Cornfield and Fight or Flight, so Marvel shouldn’t have much trouble staying ahead.
Thunderbolts is still doing well, but not as well as Marvel’s biggest hits, while not setting any records. Time will tell if it can match the legs of Shang-Chi or Ant-Man and the Wasp.
