When you talk superhero film box office, the debut weekend always gets the major headlines and buzz, but it’s those second-weekend numbers that really tell the story. And even though “Captain Marvel” broke some records last weekend with its massive $455 million global debut, the numbers earned in the film’s second frame might actually be more impressive.
Dropping only -55% in its second weekend domestically (7th smallest drop in Marvel Studios history), “Captain Marvel” earned $69 million, which is enough for a $266 million domestical total through 10 days. Marvel Studios had high hopes for this Brie Larson-led film before its premiere, but even this has to be better than they could have hoped for.
For perspective, the 10-day total of $266 million has put “Captain Marvel” past the total domestic grosses of “Doctor Strange” ($233 million), “Venom” ($214 million), and “Captain America: Winter Soldier” ($260 million). With $300 million immediately in front of the film, we should start to see “Captain Marvel” pass some of the big names in the coming days, including “Thor: Ragnarok” ($315 million), “Iron Man” ($318 million), and perhaps a bit surprising, “Aquaman” ($334 million).
But that’s just the domestic total. “Captain Marvel” is actually doing just as well, if not better, overseas. Through 10 days, the latest Marvel Studios film has earned $494 million overseas. That means “Captain Marvel” has earned more internationally than “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” ($474 million), “Deadpool 2” ($461 million), and “Wonder Woman” ($409 million).
All told, “Captain Marvel” has soared to a worldwide total of $760 million in just two weekends. That’s just incredible. Even with its reported total expense of $300 million ($150 million production budget and it’s matching advertising budget), the latest film from Marvel has already reached profitability after only 10 days. The $760 million total gross has already eclipsed the totals of “The Amazing Spider-Man” ($758 million), “Suicide Squad” ($747 million), and is only $13 million behind “Guardians of the Galaxy” ($773 million). And as a preview for next weekend, “Captain Marvel” is nipping at the heels of “Wonder Woman” and its $822 million total global box office.
Really, the only question is how much the coming competition will take away from “Captain Marvel.” Next weekend, we see the release of Jordan Peele’s “Us,” which is expected to earn upwards of $40 million or more, and the following weekends see releases like “Dumbo” and “Shazam.” However, at this point, Marvel Studios has $1 billion in its mind for “Captain Marvel.”
This weekend did have other, non-Marvel, debuts that are worth a quick mention, for both good and bad reasons. “Wonder Park” and “Five Feet Apart” both debuted as counter-programming, appealing to young children and teen girls, respectively. And surprisingly, both had decent debuts of $16 million and $13 million, good for #2 and #3.
The other major release was Rupert Wyatt’s sci-fi film “Captive State.” The buzz about the film died out as it was clear that Focus Features wasn’t going to hold any press screenings before its debut. And apparently, that was because the studio knew it had a bit of a bomb on its hands. Even though “Captive State” has a modest budget of only $25 million, the film still underperformed drastically with a debut of only $3.2 million. Ouch. To make matters worse, the film debuted behind the Spanish-language film “No Manches Frida 2,” which earned $3.9 million in less than 25% of the number of theaters.
READ MORE: ‘The Mustang’ Echoes Too Much Of ‘The Rider’ To Stand On Its Own [Sundance Review]
In the limited release sector, the winner was clearly “The Mustang,” which debuted in 4 theaters and earned a PTA (Per-Theater-Average) of $19,000. Not terrible, at all. Keira Knightley’s “The Aftermath” didn’t do nearly as well, with a PTA of only $11,500 in 5 locations.
Perhaps the most disturbing limited release numbers came with Gaspar Noe’s “Climax,” which expanded into 217 locations and earned a dismal $910 PTA. Even though many believe “Climax” is the most mainstream film in Noe’s IMDB, it just appears that people aren’t really connecting with his wild tale of drugs and dance.
READ MORE: Gaspar Noé’s ‘Climax’: An Orgy Of Sex, Drugs, Horror & Death [Cannes Review]
As mentioned, next weekend sees the long-awaited debut of Jordan Peele’s “Us.” Can it dethrone “Captain Marvel?” Probably. But will the horror film connect with audiences the same way “Get Out” did in 2017? That’s the real question.
Here’s the entire domestic top 10 for March 15 to March 17:
1. Captain Marvel – $69M ($266M Overall)
2. Wonder Park – $16M (Debut)
3. Five Feet Apart – $13M (Debut)
4. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World – $9.3M ($136M)
5. Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral – $8M ($59M)
6. No Manches Frida 2 – $3.9M (Debut)
7. Captive State – $3.2M (Debut)
8. The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part – $2.1M ($101M)
9. Alita: Battle Angel – $1.9M ($82M)
10. Green Book – $1.3M ($83M)