One of the big box office storylines coming into this weekend concerned a limited number of IMAX screens and a battle for space between Jake Schreier's Thunderbolts* and Ryan Coogler's Sinners. With the latter doing so well on the big screen, it seemed a sincere shame that it was being pushed out of the large format in favor of the former. The situation has been somewhat mitigated in the last few days with the announcement that Sinners would be returning to IMAX in mid-May – but for the time being, the two films are actually sharing cinemas well at the box office.
Thunderbolts* has successfully extended the Marvel Cinematic Universe's streak of number one hits, and but its success has not proven to be a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" situation, as Ryan Coogler's vampire film only suffered a minimal drop in its weekend-to-weekend ticket sales. Check out the full Top 10 below and join me after for analysis.
TITLE | WEEKEND GROSS | DOMESTIC GROSS | LW | THTRS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. Thunderbolts** | $76,000,000 | $76,000,000 | N/A | 4,330 |
2. Sinners | $33,000,000 | $179,729,000 | 1 | 3,347 |
3.. A Minecraft Movie | $13,700,000 | $398,209,000 | 4 | 3,571 |
4. The Accountant 2 | $9,468,181 | $41,151,000 | 3 | 3,610 |
5. Until Dawn | $3,800,000 | $14,359,000 | 5 | 3,055 |
6. The Amateur | $1,800,000 | $36,939,680 | 7 | 2,135 |
7. The King Of Kings | $1,658,234 | $57,665,661 | 6 | 2,035 |
8. Warfare | $1,275,395 | $1,275,395 | 8 | 1,315 |
9.The Legend Of Ochi | $341,951 | $341,951 | 9 | 1,004 |
10. Snow White | $236,000 | $86,123,346 | 16 | 310 |
Thunderbolts* Is The Second Marvel Cinematic Universe Movie In A Row With An Eight-Figure Opening Weekend
Things didn't start out so well for the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2025 – which is a big year considering that next year will see the launch of the franchise's second two-part epic with Avengers: Doomsday. Julius Onah's Captain America: Brave New World arrived during Valentine's Day weekend in February, and things went poorly. The film received poor buzz prior to its release, and while it had a solid first weekend, it quickly fizzled in the following weeks, and with its run now over, it sits sixth from the bottom in the ranking of MCU movies at the worldwide box office.
Thunderbolts* has arrived to change the narrative, and it's off to what I'll call a mediocre start with modest potential.
According to The Numbers, the newest arrival from the superhero franchise made $76 million in its first three days – which ranks it in the canon between the opening earnings of Cate Shortland's Black Widow in 2021 ($80.4 million) and Peyton Reed's Ant-Man And The Wasp in the summer of 2018 ($75.4) million). It marks the first time since 2021 (the year when the industry was still bouncing back from the COVID-19 pandemic) that Marvel Studios has had two blockbusters in a row open with just eight-figure earnings, and it hadn't happened prior to that since 2014.
In a broader 2025 context, it's the third biggest opening weekend of the year – behind Captain America: Brave New World's $88.8 million and Jared Hess' A Minecraft Movie, which made $162.8 million in its first three days. The Hollywood Reporter notes that it has matching reported budget to its MCU predecessor: $180 million.
Looking beyond the numbers in the United States and Canada, Thunderbolts* has thus far made $86.1 million from foreign markets. This brings its global total to date to $162.1 million – which isn't bad, but it has a lot of money to make still if it wants to balance the books.
This would look pretty bad if the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe title was also on equal footing with Captain America: Brave New World where buzz is concerned, but it's not, as there has been a much better response to the movie about a team of anti-heroes thrust together to save the day. Thunderbolts* got a warm reception from critics in the days leading up to its arrival in theaters (I gave it three-and-a-half stars in my CinemaBlend review), and audiences have demonstrated love via returning an "A-" grade via CinemaScore surveys. There may be some positive word of mouth cooking.
There is a lingering question, though, whether or not that will be enough. While Thunderbolts* may have some good buzz going, there is a larger statistical trend that has seen Marvel movies experience rough weekend-to-weekend drops following their debuts – partially explainable by the limited window between theatrical release are arrival on home video/for Disney+ subscribers. I can promise you now that its second week performance will be a significant focus of my box office column next Sunday.
After Its Magical Second Weekend, Sinners Once Again Has A Sub-30 Percent Drop
Staying on the subject of weekend-to-weekend drops, let's talk about Sinners. The Michael B. Jordan-led crime/horror film pulled off box office magic seven days ago when it pulled off something unheard of in the spring/summer: posting just a five percent difference between its opening ticket sales and its second Friday-to-Sunday. In one light, it seemed like a make hay while the sun shines situation, given the oncoming competition from Thunderbolts* – but the reality its that the Ryan Coogler movie is doing just fine co-existing with the superhero blockbuster.
There was a thought that a key percentage of Sinners' key demographic would opt to check out the new MCU title this weekend, but now that the numbers are here, they show just a 33 percent dip for mixed genre feature. Two weekends after making $48 million in its debut, it's added another $33 million to its domestic total – bringing its total in the region to date to $179.7 million. That is a remarkable thing to see for a wholly original movie in 21st century Hollywood, and it speaks to both the appeal of Ryan Coogler as a big screen storyteller and Michael B. Jordan as a superstar.
Outside the United States and Canada, Sinners isn't performing quite as well, as it has only made $57 million in foreign markets, but that nonetheless puts its worldwide box office earnings at $236.7 million, which is good enough for fifth place globally in 2025 (it just jumped ahead of Marc Webb's Snow White). It may not end up climbing too much higher in the rankings, as sitting in fourth place is Captain America: Brave New World and its $415 million total earnings, but fifth is amazing enough by itself.
What will happen seven days from now when the 2025 movie release schedule sees the arrival of Joe Carnahan's new action film Shadow Force starring Kerry Washington and Omar Sy? Be sure to head back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday for the full breakdown.
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