Civil War Sets A24 Record with $25 Million Debut
by Rebecca Rubin
April 14, 2024


Director Alex Garland’s provocative dystopian thriller Civil War lit up the box office with $25.7 million in its debut.

It’s the first A24 movie to lead the charts in North America, setting an opening weekend record for the New York-based specialty studio. It also marks the biggest R-rated start of the year.




Heading into the weekend, Civil War was projected to kick off with $15 million to $20 million.

The film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a journalist who traverses a violently divided United States, is benefitting from curiosity among moviegoers (how, exactly, does this blue-state/red-state rift play out, and does it hit too close to home in an election year?) and premium large formats like Imax and Dolby Cinemas.

According to the studio, Civil War overperformed in markets like Los Angeles and El Paso, Texas (coincidentally, those states lead the so-called successionist “Western Forces” in the movie).




Civil War landed a “B-” CinemaScore, which wouldn’t bode well for most distributors for word of mouth. But A24 has created an art and science out of disturbing, delighting and dividing moviegoers at once.

Civil War cost $50 million, so it’s the studio’s most expensive movie to date. A24 already sold the rights to foreign markets, which will help the studio recoup its investment even before the movie hits the big screen in North America.






Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s monster tentpole Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire dropped to second place after two weekends in the top slot.

The film added $15.4 million in its third outing, bringing its domestic tally to $157.9 million.




Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire remained in third place with $5.3 million from 3,350 theaters.

After four weeks on the big screen, the sci-fi comedy sequel has generated $96 million at the domestic box office and $160 million worldwide. It’s a so-so result for the $100 million-budgeted movie.




Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda 4 moved up to the No. 4 spot with $5.2 million in its sixth weekend.

So far, the animated family film has grossed $173 million in North America and more than $452 million globally. It cost $85 million so it’s well positioned in its theatrical run.




Dune: Part Two rounded out the top five, adding $74.3 million in its seventh weekend of release.

The sci-fi epic has amassed $272 million in North America and $683 million globally. It’s the highest-grossing of the year.

https://variety.com/2024/film/box-office/box-office-civil-war-opening-weekend-record-a24-1235970626/





April 12-14, 2024: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Civil War April 12-14, 2024
2. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire $15,450,000 / $157,932,103
3. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire $5,800,000 / $96,966,923
4. Kung Fu Panda 4 $5,500,000 / $173,687,730
5. Dune: Part Two $4,320,000 / $4,320,000
6. Monkey Man $4,100,000 / $17,765,255
7. The First Omen $3,781,000 / $14,638,113
8. The Long Game $1,390,000
9. Shrek 2 (re-release) $1,350,000
10. SUGA | Agust D TOUR 'D-DAY' THE MOVIE $2,200,905

Civil War Draws Blood to Beat Abigail and Stay No. 1 with $11M Second Weekend
by Pamela McClintock
April 21, 2024


Alex Garland’s dystopian political action film Civil War about an America torn apart triumphed over new vampire pic Abigail at the weekend box office.

Civil War held in well to stay No. 1 in its second weekend with $11 million for a healthy domestic total of $45 million for indie studio A24. The film has succeeded in uniting both blue states and red states.




Heading into the weekend, Universal’s Abigail opened to $10.2 million. That’s still a respectable number for a studio film that cost a modest $28 million to make before marketing.

Horror often struggles overseas, where Abigail only took in $5 million from 62 markets for a global start of $15.2 million,




Warner Bros. and Legendary’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire remained a force to be reckoned with in its fourth weekend, earning another $9.8 million to place No. 2 as it stomped past the $170 million mark domestically and a huge $485.2 million globally, including a mighty $119 million in China.




Guy Ritchie‘s new movie The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare wasn’t too far behind, with an opening of $9 million.

The ensemble film, whose cast includes Henry Cavill, chronicles a covert World War II mission manned by a band of renegades who are tasked with destroying Nazi U-boats (it’s loosely based on real events). The Lionsgate film boasts an A- CinemaScore.




Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s hit family film Kung Fu Panda 4, now in its seventh outing, and Sony/Crunchyroll’s new anime offering Spy × Family Code: White were in a close race for No. 4, but the latter prevailed with an strong opening of $4.9 million.

Spy x Family Code, which continues a winning streak for Japanese anime, is a spy-action comedy based on the shōnen manga series Spy × Family by Tatsuya Endo.

Kung Fu Panda 4 placed No. 5 with $4.6 million for a dazzling domestic tally of $179.9 million. Overseas, it celebrated crossing $300 million for a global cume of $480.3 million.




Another movie making headlines overseas was Luca Guadagnino’s tennis drama Challengers, starring Zendaya, Josh O’Connor and Mike Faist.

From MGM, with Warners handling internatonal duties, the film opened in Australia to a promising $672,000. Challengers, which was delayed because of the SAG-AFTRA strike, rolls out in the U.S. next weekend.

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/civil-war-box-office-drawing-blood-abigail-1235878317/





April 19-21, 2024: Weekend Studio Estimates

1. Civil War $11,127,752 / $44,884,414
2. Abigail $10,200,000
3. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire $9,455,000 / $171,616,510
4. The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare $9,000,000
5. Spy x Family Code: White $4,875,000
6. Kung Fu Panda 4 $4,600,000 / $179,982,475
7. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire $4,400,000 / $102,914,270
8. Dune: Part Two $2,900,000 / $276,592,913
9. Monkey Man $2,200,000 / $21,674,790
10. The First Omen $1,700,000 / $17,765,038