‘Captain America: Brave New World’ soars toward a US$100 million holiday weekend

This image released by Disney shows Anthony Mackie in a scene from Marvel Studios' "Captain America: Brave New World." (Eli Adé/Marvel Studios-Disney via AP)

“Captain America: Brave New World” infused some blockbuster cash into the North American box office, bringing in US$88.5 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. The Walt Disney Co. release is by far the biggest opener of 2025 and the company predicts it will hit $100 million domestically and $192.4 globally by the end of Monday’s Presidents' Day holiday.

It’s Marvel’s first major release since “Deadpool & Wolverine”broke records last summer and re-energized a Marvel fanbase that some worried was weakening after the poor showing for “The Marvels.”

Playing in 4,105 locations in the U.S. and Canada, “Brave New World” is also a major transition for the “Captain America” brand: Anointing Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson as the new Cap, officially taking over from Chris Evans, who played the character for almost a decade. Harrison Ford co-stars as the U.S. President who transforms into the Red Hulk.

But “Brave New World,” directed by Julius Onah, had a bit of a handicap going into the weekend: Poor reviews, though superhero movies can soar without the stamp of approval from critics. The film is currently sitting at 51 per cent “rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s not the worst in the Marvel Cinematic Universe — “Eternals” has a 47 per cent rating and “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania” has a 46 per cent — but the latest film is definitely on the very low end of the spectrum.

In his review for The Associated Press, Mark Kennedy wrote that it is, “a highly processed, empty calorie, regret-later candy of a movie.”

Audiences were more generous in their opinions. The “verified audience score” from Rotten Tomatoes was 80 per cent and its CinemaScore was a B-. Exit polls showed that men made up 63 per cent of the opening weekend audience.

The bar for biggest opening of the year wasn’t terribly high: “Dog Man” held the title for two weeks with its $36 million launch.

And “Brave New World’s” showing is the middle range for an MCU film. Not accounting for inflation, it sits between “Guardians of the Galaxy” and “Thor: The Dark World.”

It also cost significantly less than many of the big budget Marvel movies, with a reported production price tag of $180 million, excluding the millions spent on marketing and promotion.

After only one Marvel movie in 2024, “Brave New World” is the first of three major theatrical releases set for 2025. It is to be followed by “Thunderbolts(asterisk)” in May and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” in July.

“The superhero genre has taken a hit over the past few years, but audiences still have a huge interest in seeing them on the big screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore.

Second place at this week’s box office went to “Paddington in Peru,” the third installment in the beloved franchise, which finally opened in North America this weekend. Released by Sony, it earned an estimated $13 million. The StudioCanal film opened in the United Kingdom in early November 2024 and went into the weekend with $104 million from its international run.

Dougal Wilson took over directing duties for Paul King for this film, which also recast Emily Mortimer as Mrs. Brown, originally played by Sally Hawkins. The other main cast, including Ben Whishaw as Paddinton’s voice, remained intact.

Sony and Screen Gems' slasher “Heart Eyes” landed in third place with $10 million, up 20 per cent from its opening last weekend. Fourth place went to “Dog Man” with $9.7 million.

The Chinese blockbuster “Ne Zha 2″ rounded out the top five. It opened on 660 screens in North America and made $7.2 million. Overall, the box office is up 20 per cent from last year.

This weekend also saw the release of a new “Bridget Jones” movie, subtitled “Mad About the Boy,” which went straight to Universal’s streaming service Peacock, forgoing theaters in the U.S. In the U.K. and Ireland it made an estimated $14.9 million, outgrossing “Captain America: Brave New World.” Universal Pictures International reported $32.3 million in grosses from all 70 territories.

Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore:

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.

Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press