“Captain America: Civil War” is making U.S. box office history, blasting to the fifth-best opening weekend ever with an estimated $181.8 million.
Marvel-Disney’s tentpole launched the summer moviegoing season on Friday with a spectacular $75.3 million at 4,226 locations — the eighth-highest opening day of all time. That figure includes $25 million from Thursday night preview showings.
“Captain America: Civil War” should finish the weekend in elite company behind only four other films: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $248 million, “Jurassic World” at $208.8 million, “Marvel’s The Avengers” at $207.4 million and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” at $191.3 million.
Projections on Saturday showed the third “Captain America” will replace “Iron Man 3,” which opened with $174.1 million on the same weekend in 2013, as the fifth-highest launch at the U.S. box office. Its per-location average is about $42,000 for the weekend.
The $75 opening day total for “Civil War” trails only seven titles, led by “The Force Awakens” at $119.1 million, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” at $91.1 million, “Ultron” at $84.4 million, “Jurassic World” at $82 million, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” at $81.6 million, “Marvel’s the Avengers” at $80.8 million and “The Dark Knight Rises” at $75.8 million.
“Captain America: Civil War,” the 13th film in the Marvel Universe, has already shown plenty of power outside the U.S. with $291.2 million as of Thursday after nine days. That number should jump this weekend, thanks in part to the opening in China.
Disney’s marketing hooks for the movie include a duel between Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, plus the introduction of Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. The “Captain America: Winter Soldier” directorial team of Joe and Anthony Russo helmed the sequel.
Online ticketing service Fandango reported on Wednesday that “Civil War” had generated a record in advance sales for a superhero title, surpassing “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “The Avengers.”
No other title is opening this weekend, but Disney’s “The Jungle Book” is dominating the holdovers with an estimated $23 million at 4,144 U.S. locations, dropping 47% after winning the previous three frames handily. The adventure-comedy should close the weekend with about $286 million in its first 24 days in the U.S.
Open Road’s second weekend of ensemble comedy “Mother’s Day” leads the rest of the pack with about $6.5 million at 3,141 sites, down 23%.
via Variety
| Title | Weekend | Gross | Weeks | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Captain America: Civil War | $181.8M | $181.8M | 1 | |
 |
The Jungle Book | $21.9M | $285.0M | 4 | |
 |
Mother’s Day | $9.0M | $20.7M | 2 | |
 |
The Huntsman: Winter’s War | $3.6M | $40.4M | 3 | |
 |
Keanu | $3.1M | $15.1M | 2 | |
 |
Barbershop: The Next Cut | $2.7M | $48.8M | 4 | |
 |
Zootopia | $2.7M | $327.6M | 10 | |
 |
The Boss | $1.8M | $59.1M | 5 | |
 |
Ratchet & Clank | $1.5M | $7.1M | 2 | |
 |
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice | $1.0M | $327.3M | 7 |