Weekend Actuals: 'Civil War' Excellent with Fifth-Biggest Opening Ever

     The Marvel Cinematic Universe's thirteenth installment, 'Captain America: Civil War', was widely expected by many to be the fourth film to open with over $200 million at the domestic box office this weekend. While it didn't quite reach those heights, it certainly wasn't a disappointment as it delivered the fifth-hugest opening of all time.

     Obviously occupying first place was 'Captain America: Civil War', the $250-million action-packed thirteenth MCU film, with opened with a huge $179.1 million for a stellar $42.4k per-theater average (sixth-biggest for a wide release). As already mentioned, it sits on the number five spot on the domestic opening chart, between fellow Marvel behemoths 'Iron Man 3' ($174.1m) and 'Avengers: Age of Ultron' ($191.3m), both of which wound up with over $400 million total. But more on the final grosses later. 'Civil War' just posted the biggest opening of 2016 so far and the fourth $100m+ opener of the year following 'Deadpool' ($132.4m), 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' ($166m), and 'The Jungle Book' ($103.3m). The breathtaking Avenger vs. Avenger spectacle also opened ahead of superhero heavyweights 'The Dark Knight Rises' ($160.9m), 'The Dark Knight' ($158.4m), and 'Spider-Man 3' ($151.1m). In fact, it surpassed the lifetime gross of the first 'Captain America' film, 'The First Avenger' ($176.7m) in just one weekend and over two-thirds of 'Winter Soldier''s $259.8 million cume. This is a very healthy debut that just happens to be right in line with expectations, which ranged from $160 million to $215 million. It is currently one of the best-reviewed and best-received of the MCU, so it looks like it will have a very healthy run throughout the rest of May.
    

Opening on Friday with a mammoth $75.5 million (including an impressive $25m from Thursday previews), the superhero three-quel declined 18.9% on Saturday for $61.2 million, and fell 30.7% on Sunday to gross $42.4 million. The weekend-to-Friday ratio here is a pretty front-loaded 2.37-to-1, which is the the second worst ratio of the MCU behind 'Age of Ultron''s 2.27-to-1 ratio (which had to compete with the immensely popular Manny vs. Pacquiao fight on Saturday). Still, that film has a 75% Tomatometer and an 84% Flixter rating while 'Civil War' boasts a stellar 90% Tomatometer and a 92% Flixter score. Its CinemaScore stands at an 'A', which is on par with 'Ultron' and 'Winter Soldier' as well as 'Deadpool' while handily defeating 'Batman v Superman''s 'B' CinemaScore. As a result of awesome reviews and encouraging word-of-mouth, 'Civil War' has a lot of potential to hold up better than those films. The worst one so far is the 1.97x multiplier of 'Batman' with second place belonging to 'Ultron' (2.4x). 'Winter Soldier' and 'Deadpool' have nearly identical 2.73x and 2.74x multipliers, which is a likely result for 'Civil War' (getting it to over $490m). If it plays similar to 'Ultron' or 'Iron Man 3', $430 million is a lock. The former total is way more likely, and if it holds up even better than $500 million will easily be in reach for the box office behemoth. And while this is rare for a Marvel film, tripling its opening would get it to around $540 million. Let's keep our fingers crossed now, shall we?
     The rest of the box office quieted down significantly, with the top holdover being Disney's 'The Jungle Book' of course. The $175-million CGI/live-action hybrid fantasy actually held up pretty well in the face of brutal comepition, dropping a very respectable 44% for $24.5 million. With a massive total of $287.6 million so far, expect this one to cross over $300 million in the next week or so. With that said, a domestic cume of over $325 million now seems like a guarantee at this point.
     Coming off of a middling debut last weekend, the Garry Marshall directed ensemble led rom-com 'Mother's Day' held up extremely well thanks mostly to the titular weekend, increasing a very strong 32.5% for $11.1 million. Considering that reviews and word-of-mouth (or at least on Flixter) aren't strong at all, this is a very impressive hold even with the actual holiday falling on this weekend. The $25-million film now has $22.8 million, but whether or not it will continue to hold up well remains to be seen. If it does, than a total north of $35 million should be likely.

      All but one film in the Top 10 were completely slaughtered by 'Civil War'. 'The Hunstman: Winter's War' placed in fourth with $3.95 million, down 58.9%. The $115-million prequel/spin-off/sequel continues to bomb horribly with just $40.7 million and it is very unlikely it will make much more than $50 million. 'Keanu' rounded out the Top 5, plummeting 65.2% for $3.3 million. The $15-million continues to underwhelm with $15.3 million and should inch past $20 million total before the end of its run. In sixth was 'Zootopia', which was that one film that didn't get slaughtered, falling just 39.7% and grossing $3.2 million. The $150-million animated dramedy has raked in a solid $328.2 million and should ultimately get to at least $335 million.
     'Barbershop: The Next Cut' couldn't be saved from the "Marvel affect", dropping 53.9% and making $2.8 million. As it winds down, the comedy three-quel has now amassed a respectable $48.9 million and might be able to pass $55 million. Fellow comedy 'The Boss' fared a bit worse, falling 55.4% for $1.9 million and a $59.3 million cume. It should close with below $65 million. 'Ratchet & Clank' crashed in its second outing, grossing a paltry $1.5 million, down a jaw-dropping 69.9%. The not-so-popular video game adaptation only has $7.1 million so far, and should gross less than $10 million overall.
     As expected, 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' absolutely burned up in its seventh weekend, plummeting 72.9% for $1.05 million. This is likely to be its last weekend with over $1 million. The $250-million DC tentpole has now grossed $327.3 million, and should barely make it to $330 million total, which would ultimately be less than double its opening weekend, which is a very disappointing result. Fellow March 25th opener 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2' is also beginning to wrap up, making $645.7k (-41.8%). The $18-million rom-com sequel has now brought in $58.3 million and could have enough juice to get past $60 million. And last but not really least, the Helen Mirren military drama 'Eye in the Sky' rounded out the Top 12 with $561k (-38.3%). With $17.3 million, it should ultimately make less than $20 million total.
     The Top 12 this weekend amassed an overall $233.6 million, up a humongous 136% from last weekend and 91% from last year when 'Avengers 2' repeated against 'Hot Pursuit'.
     Next weekend sees the openings of 'Money Monster' and 'The Darkness', both of which should open with under $10 million despite their recognizable star power. 'Captain America: Civil War' should have no problem repeating in first and I expect that due to strong reviews/word-of-mouth, it will be the first MCU entry since 'Marvel's The Avengers' to suffer a second weekend drop of 55% or less (meaning a sophomore weekend of at least $80.5 million, which would be the fourth biggest).