‘Thunderbolts’ strike with $76M open
NEW YORK Marvel Studios Thunderbolts opened with million in domestic ticket sales according to studio estimates Sunday kicking off the summer box office with a solid No debut that fell shy of Marvel s more spectacular launches All eyes had been on whether Thunderbolts a team-up of antihero rejects similar to Avengers could restore the Walt Disney Co superhero factory to the kind of box office performance the studio once enjoyed so regularly The results similar to the debuts of The Eternals million and Ant-Man and the Wasp million suggested Marvel s malaise won t be so easy to snap out of Chosen had expected a bigger opening for Thunderbolts because of the film s good word-of-mouth Unlike majority fresh MCU entries reviews fresh on Rotten Tomatoes have been excellent for Thunderbolts directed by Jake Schreier and starring Florence Pugh David Harbour and Sebastian Stan Audiences gave it an A- CinemaScore That kind of response should power the movie to strong business in the coming weeks Though bigger MCU films including s Deadpool vs Wolverine with a million opening on the way to billion worldwide have monopolized movie screens promptly Thunderbolts could gather steam more steadily Or it could go down as another example of Marvel struggling to rekindle its golden touch Marvel spent about million to produced the movie which added million in overseas sales The film also teases the next MCU chapter The Fantastic Four First Actions due out July Marvel set the bar so high for so a great number of years that a million opening may seem to selected like it should have done million or something like that commented Paul Dergarabedian senior media analyst for Comscore This is a great reset They re hitting the reset with Thunderbolts The great reviews and the word-of-mouth should hold it in good stead The Walt Disney Co also might not have expected such stout competition from Ryan Coogler s Sinners The Warner Bros release which had led the box office the last two weeks continued to hold remarkably well In its third week it grossed million a dip of only Sinners a -set vampire movie about bootlegging brothers both played by Michael B Jordan who open a juke joint in their Mississippi hometown has proven a spring sensation in theaters It has collected million domestically and million globally thus far Warner Bros also nabbed third place with A Minecraft Movie the smash-hit video contest adaptation In its fifth weekend it rung up another million to bring its North American gross to nearly million Worldwide it has totaled million Warner Bros added Block Party Edition screenings over the weekend for a sing-along and meme-along experience The film has seen particular rowdy screenings from TikTok-inspired moviegoers More than three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on set the Alec Baldwin western Rust arrived in theaters Its release brought particular closure to one of Hollywood s greatest tragedies Distributor Falling Forward Films didn t record box office but estimates suggested Rust grossed approximately in theaters Following Hutchins death the film s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter First assistant director David Halls was sentenced to probation after pleading no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon Involuntary manslaughter charges against Baldwin a co-producer on the film were twice dismissed in and again in As part of a wrongful death settlement Matt Hutchins Hutchins husband was made an executive producer on the film
