“Civil War” has become the first A24 film to be #1 at the box-office for two weekends in a row. It is also now A24’s 5th highest grossing film of all time.
Alex Garland’s film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist, added $11.12 million this weekend. It has, so far, grossed $45 million. A24’s most expensive movie to date, the budget was said to be around $50 million, has additionally made $5 million overseas.
When all is said and done, I expect “Civil War” to end its run as the second highest A24 film of all-time, right behind “Everything Everywhere All at Once” ($77M). Before the end of the coming week, it will surpass “Uncut Gems” (50M), “Lady Bird” (48M) and “Talk to Me” ($48M).
As far as debuts go, “Abigail,” which was predicted to top the box office with $13 million, disappointed projections by finishing in second place with $10.2 million from 3,384 locations. Critics tried to push it with an 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, but that “B” CinemaScore was concerning. The film cost $28 million to produce.
Lionsgate and Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” collected $9 million in its first weekend and ended up finishing at #4. That’s bad news for a film that cost $60 million to make, and which stars Henry Cavill, Henry Golding and Eiza González. It holds an “A-” CinemaScore and 73% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Meanwhile, "Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire" had some decent legs, earning $9.4 million in its fourth weekend, and took in third place. Its total domestic gross now stands at $171.6 million and $444 million globally.
Overall, a weak April weekend at the box-office. Hollywood’s obviously still in a major period of transition from last year’s strikes. Next week sees the release of the acclaimed “Challengers,” which is currently tracking at a $20 million opening. Then, the following week, on May 3, we get David Leitch’s buzzy “The Fall Guy.”