‘Civil War’ Domestic Box Office Delivers A24’s Biggest Opening Day

The Big Picture

Civil War
is A24’s big-budget play with $10.8 million opening day haul, divisive political themes, and positive reviews.
Director Alex Garland’s speculative thriller features a group of journalists covering a divided U.S. in a civil war scenario.
Competing with
Godzilla x Kong
and
Ghostbusters
,
Civil War
is eyeing a $23 million debut, exceeding previous A24 releases.

Director Alex Garland’s speculative dystopian thriller, Civil War, is living up to expectations as indie outfit A24’s first real big-budget play. With a strong $10.8 million haul on opening day, which includes the $2.9 million that it made in Thursday previews, Civil War is on track to deliver A24’s best opening at the domestic box office, beating the previous topper by a wide margin. The movie has also been controversial, which is certainly contributing to the increased attention that it is witnessing in its first weekend.

Also written by Garland, Civil War follows a group of photojournalists across a divided U.S., as they scramble to cover a brewing insurrection. The film has received positive reviews — it currently sits at a “fresh” 83% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes — but the divisive political themes appear to be affecting its audience reception. Civil War earned a rough B- CinemaScore from opening day crowds. Collider’s Matt Donato, on the other hand, called it the director’s “best film yet,” in his review.

Produced on a reported budget of $50 million — the biggest yet for an A24 movie — Civil War is eyeing at least $23 million across its first three days of release. Not only would this mark the studio’s biggest debut, it also exceeds the previous best, Hereditary, by over $10 million. A24 has been quietly occupying a mid-budget zone that has mostly been vacated by most competitors in the post-pandemic era, after having established incredible brand recognition over the last decade or so. Civil War stars Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura and others.

Two Universal Movies Will Compete for the Fourth Spot This Weekend

The movie pushed last week’s champion, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, to the number two spot after two weekends atop the domestic box office. Godzilla x Kong grossed $4 million on its third Friday, and is looking at a third weekend haul of around $15 million. This should take the action-adventure film’s running domestic haul to just under $160 million by Sunday. Godzilla x Kong has already overtaken previous MonsterVerse installments such as Godzilla vs. Kong and Godzilla: King of the Monsters, and will soon pass Kong: Skull Island’s $168 million lifetime haul to become the series’ second-biggest film. Director Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla remains the series’ top-grossing film domestically, with over $200 million in the bank.

The number three spot went to Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, which grossed a little under $1.5 million on Friday, and will earn slightly less than $5 million across its fourth weekend. By Sunday, the film will be roughly $5 million shy of hitting the coveted $100 million mark domestically, but will subsequently find it almost impossible to match the $130-odd million that both its predecessors — Ghostbusters: Afterlife and Ghostbusters: Answer the Call — grossed during their respective runs.

The fourth and fifth spots went to two Universal films, aimed at decidedly different audiences. Kung Fu Panda 4 took the fourth spot with $1.3 million on its fourth Friday, and is looking at around $4.5 million this weekend. Dev Patel’s brutal action movie Monkey Man took the fifth spot on Friday with $1.2 million, and will closely compete with Kung Fu Panda 4 for the fourth spot over the weekend. Monkey Man will come within sniffing distance of the $20 million mark by Sunday, while Kung Fu Panda 4, which debuted on digital this past week, will pass the $170 million mark. It’s currently the franchise’s second-biggest film domestically. Stay tuned to Collider for more box office updates over the weekend.