Captain America: Brave New World Set to Skyrocket Towards $100 Million This Holiday Weekend!

“Captain America: Brave New World” made quite a splash at the North American box office, raking in an impressive $88.5 million during its opening weekend. This makes it the biggest movie launch of 2025 so far, with predictions that it will surpass $100 million in the U.S. and reach $192.4 million globally by the end of the Presidents Day holiday.

This new installment marks a significant change for the Captain America franchise. Anthony Mackie steps into the role as the new Captain America, officially taking over from Chris Evans after nearly a decade. The film also stars Harrison Ford, who plays the U.S. president and transforms into the Red Hulk. Directed by Julius Onah, this film is Marvel’s first major release since “Deadpool & Wolverine” last summer, which had a strong box office performance.

“Brave New World” opened in 4,105 theaters across the U.S. and Canada but faced some challenges due to mixed reviews. With a 51% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s not the worst of the Marvel films, but the score is considered low. Critics have described it as a “highly processed, empty calorie” movie. However, audiences seemed to enjoy it more, giving it an audience score of 80% and a CinemaScore of B-. Notably, 63% of viewers during the opening weekend were men.

For context, the previous biggest opening of the year was “Dog Man,” which earned $36 million. Compared to other Marvel films, “Brave New World” falls into the middle tier, similar to “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Thor: The Dark World.” It also had a lower production cost than many Marvel films, with a budget of $180 million, not counting marketing expenses.

Following “Brave New World,” there is more to look forward to from Marvel this year. The franchise plans to release two more films: “Thunderbolts” in May and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in July. Despite some struggles in the superhero genre recently, there remains a strong interest in superhero movies among audiences, according to analyst Paul Dergarabedian.

In second place at the box office was “Paddington in Peru,” which debuted this weekend with an estimated $13 million. The film is the third in the beloved franchise and had a successful international run before coming to North America. Dougal Wilson directed this installment, taking over for Paul King, while voice actor Ben Whishaw returned as Paddington.

Sony’s horror film “Heart Eyes” came in third with $10 million and showed a 20% increase from its previous weekend. “Dog Man” followed closely behind in fourth place, earning $9.7 million. The Chinese animated film “Ne Zha 2” rounded out the top five with $7.2 million in its opening weekend in North America.

This weekend also saw the release of a new “Bridget Jones” movie that went straight to streaming on Peacock in the U.S. Despite not hitting theaters here, it performed well overseas, grossing an estimated $14.9 million in the U.K. and Ireland.

As a recap, the estimated ticket sales for the weekend are as follows:

• 1. “Captain America: Brave New World,” $88.5 million
• 2. “Paddington in Peru,” $13 million
• 3. “Heart Eyes,” $10 million
• 4. “Dog Man,” $9.7 million
• 5. “Ne Zha 2,” $7.2 million
• 6. “Love Hurts,” $4.4 million
• 7. “Mufasa: The Lion King,” $4.2 million
• 8. “One of Them Days,” $3 million
• 9. “Companion,” $1.9 million
• 10. “Becoming Led Zeppelin,” $1.8 million

Final domestic figures will be available on Tuesday.

Source link

All Markets – Rank Everywhere, Hawaii, APP Top Stories, California, APP For Your Consideration, Associated Press, APP Arts & Entertainment, Entertainment, Top Stories