Captain America: Civil War kicked off the summer blockbuster season with the year's largest opening to date, topping not only the previous Captain America openings, but also the openings of the other major comic movies to date, Deadpool and Batman v Superman.
Deadpool kicked the year off with an unexpected $132 million start, only to have that opening eclipsed several weeks later by Batman v Superman's $166 million opening. B v S looked to pass Deadpool but dropped off too sharply in subsequent hold up against Deadpools strong run. Both contenders look to be overpowered by America's new favorite super hero.
With $181 million the third part in the Captain America trilogy handily took first place, but despite its massive opening didn't break the record. It landed in fifth place on that list, behind Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($247 million, 2015), Jurassic World ($208 million, 2015) and the first and second Avenger's movies ($207 million, 2012 and $191 million, 2015).
The total is still impressive, and puts Civil War as the highest opening non-Avenger's comic book movie to date.
The Jungle Book slipped to second place this weekend, and at $284 million in domestic sales to date looks to push past $330 million before finishing up. That puts it in tight competition with Zootopia and Batman v Superman for what might end up being a position in the year's top ten or even top five grossing movies.
After a weak opening, Mother's Day somehow rallied under Civil War's crushing debut. The holiday-themed movied got a boost on its named weekend, making 7% more than it did last weekend, pushing its domestic earnings to $20 million and reviving its chances of turning a modest profit.
Zootopia, now in its tenth weekend in the top ten, has begun circling the bottom of the chart, looking to settle between $330 and $340 million. It will close out as the third highest grossing animated Disney Studios (non-Pixar) movie to date, behind Frozen ($400 million, 2013) and The Lion King ($422 million, 1994).
For the full weekend top ten, check out the chart below:
Captain America: Civil War *
$181,791,000Total: $181,791,000LW: N
THTRS: 4,226
The Jungle Book (2016)
$21,873,000Total: $284,985,265LW: 1
THTRS: 4,144
Mother's Day
$9,006,141Total: $20,725,561LW: 4
THTRS: 3,141
The Huntsman: Winter's War
$3,580,000Total: $40,363,620LW: 2
THTRS: 2,901
Keanu
$3,080,000Total: $15,100,937LW: 3
THTRS: 2,681
Barbershop: The Next Cut
$2,700,000Total: $48,768,843LW: 5
THTRS: 1,734
Zootopia
$2,677,000Total: $327,624,990LW: 6
THTRS: 2,077
The Boss
$1,750,000Total: $59,102,460LW: 8
THTRS: 1,933
Ratchet & Clank
$1,462,000Total: $7,095,633LW: 7
THTRS: 2,895
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
$1,045,000Total: $327,250,133LW: 9
THTRS: 1,593
