A group of misfits and outsiders are making headlines at the box office after winning over audiences and critics in a major way.
Marvel and Disney Thunderbolts* soared to the top of the domestic chart with an estimated domestic opening of $76 million from 4,330 theaters, slightly ahead of expectations for a superhero pic that features lesser-known characters. While Marvel and Disney would no doubt have liked north of $80 million, the biggest factor will be how the $180 million movie legs out.
Overseas, the star-studded ensemble pic led by Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan pulled in $86.1 million for a global start of $162.1 million; again, in line with expectations. The global Imax haul was a huge $20 million.
It drew impressive audience sentiment across the board, including boasting a glowing 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the third-highest score for a title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in a tie with Spider-Man: Far From Home and behind Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (98 percent) and Spider-Man: No Way Home (97 percent). And on PostTrak exit polls, audiences are giving it a rave 4.5 out of 5 stars, while it received an A- CinemaScore.
Thunderbolts* played to an ethnically diverse audience and also skewed somewhat less male (67 percent) than many Marvel titles.
Directed by Jake Schreier, the film brings together a band of dysfunctional outsiders — and lesser-known comic book characters — who discover their potential to be heroes when working together. In addition to Pugh (Yelena Belova) and Stan (Bucky Barnes), the movie features Wyatt Russell (John Walker), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Lewis Pullman (Bob), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), Olga Kurylenko (Taskmaster) and Julia Louis-Dreyfus (CIA director Valentine Allegra de Fontaine).
In the film, Louis-Dreyfus’ villainous character has positioned a number of MCU loners and rejects to kill each other for her own nefarious reasons. But they instead decide to team up in response to the obvious setup, bringing along newcomer Bob, who suffers from a mental illness that has catastrophic consequences after he’s subjected to cruel experimentation.
The Marvel pic is contributing to the continuing boom in moviegoing at the box office, with ticket sales for the weekend up 95 percent over last year when Universal’sThe Fall Guy kicked off summer to disappointing results (Deadpool & Wolverine was forced to relocate to late July because of the strikes). And year-to-date revenue is now up nearly 16 percent over 2024.
Ryan Coogler’s sleeper sensation Sinners enjoyed a phenomenal third weekend as it came in second $33 million. The supernatural vampire pic, from Warner Bros., continues to break all the rules and fell a scant 28 percent or less for a domestic tally of $179.7 million and $236.7 million globally.
And Warners decision to hold “rowdy” screenings of A Minecraft Movie seems to have paid off as it climbed back up the chart to third place with an estimated $13.7 million as it approaches the $400 million mark domestically and $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
No other major studio dared open a new wide release opposite the Marvel event pic. Elsewhere, Alec Baldwin’s controversial-laced Rust finally opened in select theaters while also being available on premium VOD. The Western flailed in its debut — at least in cinemas — with an estimated opening gross of just $25,000 from 115 theaters. The movie opens four years after Baldwin, who co-wrote and produced the film, accidentally discharged a weapon he thought only had blanks. A live round was in the chamber, and the bullet fatally wounded cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and also hit director-writer Joel Souza.
Baldwin paid a settlement to Hutchins’ surviving family and Matthew Hutchins, the widower, was made an executive producer on the project. In a recent interview, Souza said the family ultimately wanted to finish the film, and asked that he return. But now, he says he regrets ever making the movie.