Our favorite Marvel heroes, when they’re not clobbering each other in Captain America: Civil War, continue to smash the box office. The third Captain America film raked in $181.7 million domestically in its first three days (the third-highest Marvel Cinematic Universe movie opening weekend to date behind the first two Avengers films) and has helped Walt Disney Studios - which owns Marvel Studios - hit $1 billion in domestic ticket sales in record time; namely, 128 days into 2016.
Let the bragging rights continue. Only five days after its release, Civil War (read our review here) has already surpassed its predecessor, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, in total box office earnings - having now crossed the $200 million mark at the North American box office and brought its overall worldwide total to $737.7 million. The Winter Soldier, by comparison, made $714.4 million globally over the course of its entire run in theaters.
Civil War also boasts the fifth biggest five-day total of all time in North America, behind record-breakers Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($248 million), Jurassic World ($208.8 million), Marvel’s The Avengers ($207.4 million), and Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.3 million). thanks to its big opening weekend, Civil War has knocked the former #5 spot-holder (Marvel Studios’ own Iron Man 3) down to sixth place.
The immense success of the film, the third installment in the Captain America series, is owed in part to its assemblage of superheroes, many of whom fans have only seen fight side-by-side in Marvel’s ensemble-driven Avengers movies. Civil War also marks the first Marvel Cinematic Universe appearances of Spider-Man (Tom Holland) and Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), both of whom are set to star in their own Marvel movies over the next two years.
Civil War likewise enabled fans to see how these (and other) debuting noble-minded, super-powered and/or super suit-wearing, heroes stack up against the familiar Avengers gang, not just in terms of brawn, but also personality. Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), for example, provided effective comic relief when juxtaposed against the tension created by Captain America’s ideological clash with Iron Man during the film.
Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, Captain America: Civil War stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, and Emily VanCamp.
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.
Source: CBR
