Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War has finally opened in the U.S. (a week after the U.K. and a number of other international markets) and is the film on everyone’s lips right now. Building on the aftermath of last year’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, Civil War is a full-blown Avengers-scale movie that cost a whopping $250 million to make while retaining its identity as a solo outing for hero Steve Rogers (Chris Evans).

Marvel’s thirteenth movie kicks Phase Three off with a bang. Having wowed audiences around the world already, it looks set to not only make huge amounts of cash on a global scale, but become one of the biggest films of recent times. And with its debut in the U.S. now upon us, Variety report that it’s about to have an incredible opening weekend at the box office.

According to projections, Civil War is set to scoop a whopping $180 million this weekend, which would make it the fifth best movie opening of all time. Assuming the projections hold true, Civil War will join the elite ranks of last year’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million), Jurassic World ($208.8 million), Marvel’s The Avengers ($207.4), and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.3 million). However, despite such an impressive opening, it’ll actually underwhelm based on initial projections that said it’d max-out at around the $200 million mark.

Speaking of the film’s anticipated success, Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst with comScore, says Civil War has opened summer blockbuster season in style.

Overall, Civil War is performing exceptionally well and will continue to do so over the coming weeks. It’s the first big blockbusters of summer, so expect ticket sales to come close to, or even exceed, the $1 billion threshold by the time its theatrical run comes to an end.

“This latest Disney/Marvel extravaganza is a massively entertaining, OMG moment-filled, perfectly crafted superhero confection that will guarantee great social media buzz and create enough repeat viewing to propel the film to what I believe will be one of the top five opening weekends of all-time and off the charts long-term playability around the world.”

Captain America: Civil War has all the ingredients of an epic Avengers movie; with the return of Evans’ Cap, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Bucky Barnes a.k.a. The Winter Solider (Sebastian Stan), and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) comes a host of existing MCU favourites, including Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), and Vision (Paul Bettany). In addition, franchise newcomers Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman) and Spider-Man (Tom Holland) enter the fray, so the scale and spectacle on show is absolutely huge.

Captain America: Civil War is in theaters now. Doctor Strange opens November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man: Homecoming – July 7, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; Black Panther – February 16, 2018; Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Ant-Man and the Wasp – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – March 8, 2019; Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; and as-yet untitled Marvel movies on July 12, 2019, and on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020.

Next: Captain America: Civil War – Every Easter Egg & Hidden Detail

Source: Variety