Weekend Actuals: Captain Marvel Rockets to Sensational $153.4M, Racking Up 3rd Best March Opening Ever

Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Entertainment

Monday Update: Captain Marvel stunned with the 6th-highest global opening weekend of all time, earning $153.4M in its domestic debut.

Comparisons

Total box office this extended weekend was $209.7M.

That’s up +81.6% above last weekend and also up -50.1% above this same weekend last year, when Black Panther led for a fourth frame with $40.8M.

Year-to-date box office stands at $1.79B. That’s -21.2% behind this same date last year, up from -25.7% after last weekend.

Most analysts are still predicting 2019’s box office to ultimately beat 2018’s, on the strength of this year’s anticipated strong upcoming slate of films, especially sequels.

Demographics

Among films in this weekend’s top 10, audience demographics by Vertigo for Apollo 11 were not yet available.

The audience for Captain Marvel in its opening weekend on top was 57.1% male and 63.4% over age 25.

The most male audience in this weekend’s top 10 was Alita: Battle Angel at 69.3%, while the most female audience was Isn’t It Romantic at 71.7%.

The most under-25 audience in this weekend’s top 10 was The LEGO Movie 2 at 56.8%, while the most over-25 audience was Green Book at 92.8%.

A full demographic breakdown of the top 30 movies this weekend, courtesy of BoxofficeProfile by Vertigo, is below:


Monday’s Weekend Actuals (Domestic)

FRI, MAR. 8 – SUN, MAR. 10

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Captain Marvel $153,433,423 4,310 $35,599 $153,433,423 1 Disney
2 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World $14,685,005 -51% 4,042 -244 $3,633 $119,651,130 6 Universal / DreamWorks Animation
3 Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral $12,465,383 -54% 2,442 0 $5,105 $46,295,193 2 Lionsgate
4 The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part $3,868,248 -41% 2,930 -528 $1,320 $97,153,209 7 Warner Bros.
5 Alita: Battle Angel $3,215,344 -55% 2,374 -722 $1,354 $78,361,408 4 20th Century Fox
6 Green Book $2,511,325 -45% 2,097 -544 $1,198 $80,163,196 17 Universal Pictures
7 Isn’t It Romantic $2,261,026 -50% 2,223 -1102 $1,017 $44,005,746 4 Warner Bros.
8 Greta $2,188,430 -51% 2,417 6 $905 $8,279,165 2 Focus Features
9 Fighting With My Family $2,184,010 -53% 2,455 -400 $890 $18,652,100 4 MGM
10 What Men Want $1,242,533 -55% 1,062 -956 $1,170 $52,039,693 5 Paramount
11 The Upside $1,028,195 -49% 1,010 -597 $1,018 $104,548,226 9 STX Entertainment
12 Happy Death Day 2U $870,650 -65% 1,098 -1233 $793 $26,797,295 4 Universal Pictures

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Apollo 11 $1,250,931 -22% 405 285 $3,089 $3,730,883 2 Neon
2 A Star is Born $740,256 -60% 810 -425 $914 $214,528,511 23 Warner Bros.
3 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse $649,380 -70% 824 -1580 $788 $188,791,064 13 Sony / Columbia
4 Run The Race $615,870 -53% 753 -322 $818 $5,250,119 3 Roadside Attractions
5 The Kid $514,286 268 $1,919 $514,286 1 Lionsgate
6 Cold Pursuit $512,095 -69% 823 -942 $622 $31,114,065 5 Lionsgate / Summit
7 Everybody Knows $440,505 -6% 283 74 $1,557 $1,873,471 5 Focus Features
8 Bohemian Rhapsody $378,428 -61% 386 -453 $980 $215,236,464 19 20th Century Fox
9 Glass $345,185 -61% 386 -370 $894 $110,128,470 8 Universal
10 The Favourite $260,117 -68% 278 -464 $936 $33,809,415 16 Fox Searchlight
11 Ralph Breaks the Internet $254,200 13% 209 5 $1,216 $200,511,483 16 Disney
12 Aquaman $200,033 -56% 303 -131 $660 $334,036,292 13 Warner Bros.
13 Arctic $178,000 -51% 208 -60 $856 $1,981,497 6 Bleecker Street
14 They Shall Not Grow Old $175,093 -51% 213 -155 $822 $17,354,296 12 Warner Bros.
15 Mary Poppins Returns $174,033 -18% 215 -30 $809 $171,477,293 12 Disney
16 Total Dhamaal $156,180 -65% 118 -91 $1,324 $2,020,732 3 FIP
17 A Dog’s Way Home $137,823 8% 194 -17 $710 $41,602,551 9 Sony Pictures
18 Free Solo $137,203 -63% 119 -119 $1,153 $17,235,945 24 National Geographic Entertainment
19 The Prodigy $110,160 -74% 152 -381 $725 $14,647,113 5 Orion Pictures
20 Escape Room $86,491 -31% 110 -48 $786 $56,481,760 10 Sony Pictures
21 The Mule $71,440 -34% 121 -45 $590 $103,763,023 13 Warner Bros.

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Badla $596,446 94 $6,345 $596,446 1 Reliance Entertainment
2 CATVIDEOFEST 2019 $165,481 747% 64 61 $2,586 $240,057 4 Oscilloscope
3 Furie $160,662 3% 27 13 $5,950 $392,126 2 Well Go USA Entertainment
4 Gloria Bell $145,218 5 $29,044 $145,218 1 A24
5 Climax $110,607 -7% 28 23 $3,950 $280,493 2 A24
6 If Beale Street Could Talk $70,417 -49% 74 -52 $952 $14,769,031 13 Annapurna
7 Vice $68,842 -73% 91 -171 $757 $47,731,375 11 Annapurna
8 Birds of Passage $60,567 6% 50 19 $1,211 $245,805 4 The Orchard
9 Cold War $60,368 -55% 60 -68 $1,006 $4,477,063 12 Amazon Studios
10 Miss Bala $40,418 -63% 64 -82 $632 $14,953,031 6 Sony Pictures
11 Transit $39,810 25% 5 3 $7,962 $87,002 2 Music Box Films
12 Woman At War $38,299 108% 16 11 $2,394 $65,055 2 Magnolia Pictures
13 The Kid Who Would Be King $33,993 -37% 95 -16 $358 $16,712,302 7 20th Century Fox
14 The 2019 Oscar Nominated Short Films $21,953 -80% 23 -74 $954 $3,500,061 5 ShortsTV w/ Magnolia Pictures
15 Babylon $21,214 1 $21,214 $21,214 1 Kino Lorber Films
16 Shoplifters $17,985 -9% 20 -2 $899 $3,232,809 16 Magnolia Pictures
17 To Dust $17,432 -22% 18 -5 $968 $125,378 5 Good Deed Entertainment
18 Uri: The Surgical Strike $13,020 -62% 9 -6 $1,447 $4,173,140 9 PackYourBag Films
19 Who Will Write Our History $8,388 314% 6 4 $1,398 $106,352 8 Abramorama
20 Lords of Chaos $8,147 -59% 18 -17 $453 $239,161 5 Gunpowder & Sky
21 3 Faces $7,065 1 $7,065 $20,454 1 Kino Lorber
22 The Last Resort $6,942 -57% 10 -3 $694 $135,787 12 Kino Lober Films
23 Can You Ever Forgive Me? $5,608 -64% 9 -10 $623 $8,799,420 21 Fox Searchlight
24 Styx $5,515 61% 1 0 $5,515 $14,590 2 Film Movement
25 The Heiresses $5,512 144% 5 0 $1,102 $60,065 8 Distrib Films US
26 Creed II $5,045 -23% 20 -5 $252 $115,710,013 16 MGM / Warner Bros
27 Wrestle $4,976 27% 4 2 $1,244 $18,046 3 Oscilloscope Laboratories
28 Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People $4,548 -20% 5 4 $910 $11,729 2 First Run Features
29 The Sower $3,842 -7% 5 3 $768 $16,842 2
30 The Image Book $3,307 -6% 8 2 $413 $86,429 7 Kino Lorber Films
31 Sonchiriya $2,880 -95% 8 -62 $360 $85,148 2 PackYourBag Films
32 Destroyer $2,696 -63% 8 -7 $337 $1,527,099 11 Annapurna Pictures
33 The Wild Pear Tree $2,090 601% 5 4 $418 $25,739 6 Cinema Guild
34 Becoming Astrid $1,594 2 $797 $115,376 16 Music Box Films
35 Hotel By The River $1,395 -18% 4 2 $349 $19,922 4 Cinema Guild
36 The Gospel of Eureka $823 129% 2 1 $412 $16,113 5 Kino Lorber
37 Hale County This Morning, This Evening $746 -43% 3 -2 $249 $108,380 26 Cinema Guild
38 La Religieuse $683 2 $342 $30,245 10 Rialto Pictures
39 What Is Democracy? $615 -32% 2 0 $308 $36,357 8 Zeitgeist Films
40 Sorry Angel $26 -99% 1 -3 $26 $17,512 4 Strand Releasing

Sunday Update: Captain Marvel is a marvel.

Following several weeks of troublingly-low box office returns in North America, Marvel’s latest superhero epic blasted onto the scene with an estimated $153 million opening weekend, surpassing The Hunger Games ($152.5 million) for 3rd place among all-time March openers, behind only Disney’s live-action Beauty and the Beast ($174.7 million) and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice ($166 million). The sizzling debut is also the 7th-highest opening weekend among MCU titles, behind Avengers: Infinity War ($257.6 million), The Avengers ($207.4 million), Black Panther ($202 million), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.2 million), Captain America: Civil War ($179.1 million), and Iron Man 3 ($174.1 million). Additionally, it managed to exceed the total gross of every film released so far this year in a single weekend, dwarfing former No. 1 Glass‘s $109.7 million.

Captain Marvel had a number of things going for it. In addition to the massive amount of hype that’s been building ever since the project was first announced, it debuted during a relatively fallow period in the marketplace. Though we’ve seen high-profile studio releases like Glass and How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World perform reasonably well, Captain Marvel is the year’s first true tentpole release, and moviegoers were clearly starved for an A-list blockbuster. It helped that the film debuted to mainly positive reviews (it currently has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 79%), which likely helped the film far surpass the studio’s $125 million projection going into the weekend.

Word-of-mouth didn’t hurt either, with Captain Marvel garnering an “A” Cinemascore from opening day audiences (its 53% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes should be taken with a grain of salt, as it may have suffered from a trolling campaign similar to recent releases like Ghostbusters and Star Wars: The Last Jedi). It also received a boost from the massive theater count (it opened in 4,310 locations, a record for March) and the high number of premium showings, with over 3,000 locations screening the film in 3D (which accounted for 14% of all tickets sold) and over 400 in IMAX (9%), in addition to PLF and 4D formats.

The cultural significance of Captain Marvel also cannot be discounted as a factor in its success. It remains a fact that the film is the first in the MCU to center solely on a woman superhero, and only the second in recent years after 2017’s hugely-successful Wonder Woman from Warner Bros./DC. That made it a highly-anticipated title not only for fans of Marvel and superhero movies but for moviegoers generally (the opening-weekend audience breakdown was 45% female, 55% male). Marvel also made a smart play by teasing the character’s appearance in the forthcoming Avengers: Endgame at the end of last year’s Infinity War, which helped set up Captain Marvel as a must-see connective link between the two team-based installments.

With Captain Marvel the only newcomer in wide release this weekend, the remainder of the Top 10 was given over to holdovers. In second place was Universal’s How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, which was knocked from the top spot in its third frame with an estimated $14.7 million, representing a drop of 51% from last weekend. Overall, the threequel’s weekend-to-weekend drops are more in line with the second film in the series than the first, which eased a mere 14% in its third weekend and ended its North American run with $217.5 million. With $119.6 million in the bank after 17 days, The Hidden World is now running about 10% behind the first How to Train Your Dragon and about 2% the second installment, which had $121.9 million at the same point in its run. Surely, the presence of Captain Marvel in the marketplace put at least a slight dent in The Hidden World‘s performance this weekend.

In third place was Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral, which brought in $12 million, a drop of 55% from its $27 million debut last weekend. That’s a pretty standard drop for a series that tends to be frontloaded, with the majority falling more than 50% in their sophomore frames. With $45.8 million to date, the supposed final entry in the long-running comedy series ranks as yet another hit in a franchise that has been a reliable performer for the duration of its nearly 15-year run. Including this weekend’s returns for Family Funeral, the series has now grossed more than $500 million in North America over a total of nine films.

Finishing in fourth place in its fifth weekend was Warner Bros.’ The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part, which continues to creep towards the $100 million mark – a threshold the first film crossed in just nine days of release. With an estimated $3.8 million this weekend, the total for the animated sequel now stands at a disappointing $97.1 million.

Another underperforming February release, Alita: Battle Angel, finished in fifth place with an estimated $3.2 million, giving the Fox sci-fi actioner a $78.3 million cume after 4 weeks. In sixth, meanwhile, Best Picture winner Green Book took in an estimated $2.4 million in its seventeenth weekend, giving the Universal Best Picture winner a solid $80.1 million to date.

Seventh and eighth place went to Isn’t It Romantic and Greta, which grossed an estimated $2.4 million and $2.2 million, respectively. The Rebel Wilson rom-com has banked $44.1 million after four weeks of release, while the total for the horror-thriller starring Isabelle Huppert stands at a disappointing $8.3 million after ten days.

Rounding out the Top 10, the wrestling dramedy Fighting With My Family took ninth in its fourth weekend with an estimated $2.18 million, giving the UA release a decent $18.6 million so far. In tenth, finally, was the second weekend of NEON’s Apollo 11, which added nearly 300 locations in its sophomore frame and brought in an estimated $1.3 million, giving the critically-acclaimed space documentary a per-screen average of $3,212 and a total of $3.7 million after ten days.

Limited Release:

The critically-acclaimed Julianne Moore drama Gloria Bell debuted solidly this weekend, taking in an estimated $154K on just five screens. That translates to a healthy per-screen average of over $30K for the A24 release, which will expand wider in the coming weeks.

Overseas Update:

Captain Marvel brought in even bigger returns overseas, where it debuted to an enormous $302 million from 53 markets. It opened to a terrific $89.3 million in China alone, ranking it as the third-highest MCU opening ever in the country behind only Avengers: Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War. Worldwide, the film brought in an estimated $455 million, which would make it the sixth-highest global debut of all time. You can get more context on the film’s powerhouse global performance in our in-depth international post here.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World brought in an estimated $21.7 million overseas this weekend, bringing the international total for the animated follow-up to a fantastic $315.5 million and its worldwide cume to $435.2 million.

Alita: Battle Angel continued to chug along internationally, bringing in an estimated $11.6 million this weekend for an updated total of $304.3 million overseas and $382.6 million worldwide.


Sunday’s Studio Weekend Estimates (Domestic)

FRI, MAR. 8 – SUN, MAR. 10

WIDE (1000+)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Captain Marvel $153,000,000 4,310 $35,499 $153,000,000 1 Disney
2 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World $14,700,000 -51% 4,042 -244 $3,637 $119,666,125 6 Universal / DreamWorks Animation
3 Tyler Perry’s A Madea Family Funeral $12,050,000 -55% 2,442 0 $4,934 $45,879,810 2 Lionsgate
4 The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part $3,825,000 -42% 2,930 -528 $1,305 $97,109,961 7 Warner Bros.
5 Alita: Battle Angel $3,200,000 -56% 2,374 -722 $1,348 $78,346,064 4 20th Century Fox
6 Green Book $2,490,000 -46% 2,097 -544 $1,187 $80,141,871 17 Universal Pictures
7 Isn’t It Romantic $2,410,000 -47% 2,223 -1102 $1,084 $44,154,720 4 Warner Bros.
8 Fighting With My Family $2,188,868 -53% 2,455 -400 $892 $18,656,958 4 MGM
9 Greta $2,161,000 -52% 2,417 6 $894 $8,251,735 2 Focus Features
10 What Men Want $1,200,000 -57% 1,062 -956 $1,130 $51,997,160 5 Paramount
11 The Upside $1,020,000 -49% 1,010 -597 $1,010 $104,540,031 9 STX Entertainment
12 Happy Death Day 2U $859,000 -65% 1,098 -1233 $782 $26,785,645 4 Universal Pictures

LIMITED (100 — 999)

# TITLE WEEKEND LOCATIONS AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Apollo 11 $1,301,000 -19% 405 285 $3,212 $3,780,952 2 Neon
2 A Star is Born $744,000 -60% 810 -425 $919 $214,532,255 23 Warner Bros.
3 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse $650,000 -70% 824 -1580 $789 $188,791,684 13 Sony / Columbia
4 Run The Race $607,745 -54% 753 -322 $807 $5,241,994 3 Roadside Attractions
5 Cold Pursuit $520,000 -69% 823 -942 $632 $31,121,970 5 Lionsgate / Summit
6 The Kid $505,000 268 $1,884 $505,000 1 Lionsgate
7 Bohemian Rhapsody $370,000 -62% 386 -453 $959 $215,228,036 19 20th Century Fox
8 The Favourite $260,000 -68% 278 -464 $935 $33,809,298 16 Fox Searchlight
9 Ralph Breaks the Internet $253,000 12% 209 5 $1,211 $200,510,283 16 Disney
10 Arctic $182,292 -50% 208 -60 $876 $1,985,789 6 Bleecker Street
11 Mary Poppins Returns $168,000 -21% 215 -30 $781 $171,471,260 12 Disney
12 Total Dhamaal $150,000 -66% 117 -92 $1,282 $2,014,552 3 FIP
13 Free Solo $131,600 -65% 119 -119 $1,106 $17,230,342 24 National Geographic Entertainment
14 The Prodigy $105,546 -75% 152 -381 $694 $14,642,499 5 Orion Pictures

PLATFORM (1 — 99)

# TITLE WEEKEND   LOCATIONS   AVG. TOTAL WKS. DIST.
1 Badla $614,328 94 $6,535 $614,328 1 Reliance Entertainment
2 Everybody Knows $400,000 -14% 0 -209 $1,832,966 5 Focus Features
3 Furie $164,000 5% 27 13 $6,074 $395,464 2 Well Go USA Entertainment
4 Gloria Bell $154,775 5 $30,955 $154,775 1 A24
5 CATVIDEOFEST 2019 $141,500 625% 55 52 $2,573 $216,076 4 Oscilloscope
6 Never Look Away $113,086 -14% 77 -45 $1,469 $860,249 7 Sony Pictures Classics
7 Climax $110,786 -7% 28 23 $3,957 $280,672 2 A24
8 The Wedding Guest $66,078 262% 31 27 $2,132 $90,306 2 IFC Films
9 Birds of Passage $61,343 7% 50 19 $1,227 $246,581 4 The Orchard
10 Capernaum $60,883 -18% 45 -13 $1,353 $1,469,926 13 Sony Pictures Classics
11 Cold War $53,800 -60% 60 -68 $897 $4,470,495 12 Amazon Studios
12 Stan & Ollie $52,657 12% 61 -10 $863 $5,150,756 11 Sony Pictures Classics
13 Transit $42,538 33% 5 3 $8,508 $89,730 2 Music Box Films
14 The Iron Orchard $23,170 -62% 22 -20 $1,053 $162,030 3 mTuckman Media
15 Babylon $20,096 1 $20,096 $20,096 1 Kino Lorber Films
16 To Dust $15,496 -31% 17 -6 $912 $123,442 5 Good Deed Entertainment
17 Ruben Brandt, Collector $8,894 -27% 17 2 $523 $50,687 4 Sony Pictures Classics
18 Lords of Chaos $7,435 -63% 17 -18 $437 $238,449 5 Gunpowder & Sky
19 3 Faces $7,196 1 $7,196 $7,196 1 Kino Lorber
20 Wrestle $4,750 21% 4 2 $1,188 $17,820 3 Oscilloscope Laboratories
Image Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios/Marvel Entertainment