Marvel’s Thunderbolts* is officially off the starting line with a global debut of $162 million, giving the MCU a solid kickoff to the summer movie season.
That total includes $86.1 million from 52 international markets and $76 million from domestic theaters, where the antihero team-up topped the box office.
While it didn’t quite match the $192 million global launch of February’s Captain America: Brave New World, it’s showing more promise when it comes to legs.
That’s key, considering Brave New World was dead on arrival thanks to brutal word-of-mouth. The contrast is sharp, and this time, the buzz around Thunderbolts* is much more favorable, which could give it the kind of staying power Disney needs.
Between the $180 million production budget and $100 million marketing push, Thunderbolts* has a lot of ground to cover. But the ensemble lineup of Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell’s John Walker, and David Harbour’s Red Guardian has clearly struck a chord with audiences.
Meanwhile, Sinners is still going strong. The R-rated vampire horror flick pulled in another $10.4 million overseas from 71 markets, down only 27% from the previous weekend. That kind of momentum is rare, especially for a genre film, but it’s working.
Domestically, it’s earned $179.9 million so far, pushing its global total to a very impressive $236.7 million. It’ll hit the $250 million mark by next weekend, easily.
Also in the mix, A Minecraft Movie continues to stack blocks of box office gold. The family-friendly video game adaptation, starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa, took in another $26.6 million overseas. It now stands at $873.4 million worldwide, making it the highest-grossing Hollywood release of the year so far.
As for Thunderbolts*, its arrival marks the official start of the 2025 summer movie season, one that studios are really hoping will turn things around. The first quarter was sluggish (again), but April got a jumpstart thanks to Minecraft and Sinners.
“2025 is following the same pattern we saw last year: A weak first quarter, then the box office woke up in April — this year Minecraft and Sinners did the waking up,” says David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research. “The summer calendar is loaded with broad-appeal, mainstream titles.”
With Lilo & Stitch, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and Jurassic World Rebirth still to come, Hollywood’s big franchises are about to go head-to-head. But for now, it’s Marvel’s morally murky misfits and a bloodsucking sleeper hit leading the charge.
Credit:Source link