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The dystopian action pic shows America at war with itself just as Donald Trump battles to overtake Joe Biden and return to the White House.
By Pamela McClintock
Senior Film Writer
Alex Garland‘s dystopian action movie Civil War conquered the domestic box office this weekend with $25.7 million, ahead of expectations and scoring A24’s biggest opening ever.
The $50 million movie about a divided America is a big swing for A24 as it tries to produce bigger movies, marking its most expensive production to date.
There are clearly split feelings about the film. Moviegoers only bestowed it with a B- CinemaScore, while PostTrack exits were mixed. The movie’s audience skewed heavily male, or 73 percent. Imax runs are a boon for the movie and contributed more than 16 percent of the gross.
Civil War follows a wartime photojournalist (Kirsten Dunst) and her colleagues as they make their way across a hostile United States of America that has been torn apart under the authoritarian rule of a three-term president (Nick Offerman). Yet the film shies away from red state/blue state divisions, and the politics behind the conflict are generally left unexplained, other than to say that one of the president’s first actions was to disband the FBI in an apparent nod to former President Donald Trump, who has called to “defund” the Bureau.
Civil War‘s timing surely isn’t a coincidence, as it hits cinemas amid a contentious election year in which President Joe Biden and former President Trump are once again the leading candidates for their respective parties and Trump seeks to return to the White House.
At a SXSW panel following the film’s premiere, Garland said it made sense to release Civil War now, although it’s not as if there is anything new about the contentious political discourse gripping the country.
With males flocking to see Civil War, Dev Patel’s action-laden pic Monkey Man met an unhappy fate in its second weekend, tumbling to No. 6 with $4 million for a 10-day domestic total of $17.6 million. It earned another $1.3 million overseas from 27 markets, for a global total of $22.8 million. Universal is releasing the movie via its deal with Jordan Peele’s Monkey Paw Productions.
Warner Bros. and Legendary’s hit movie Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire stayed a strong No. 2 in its third outing, grossing $15.5 million for a domestic total of $157.9 million and $436.6 million globally.
After that, grosses fell off notably, leaving year-to-date domestic revenue down 16 percent.
Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire placed No. 3 in its fourth weekend with $5.8 million for a domestic total of $96.9 million and $160 million globally.
Now in its seventh weekend, Legendary and Warners’ Dune: Part 2 earned $4.3 million for a domestic cume of $272.3 million and a massive global haul of $683.9 million. Thanks to Dune 2 and Godzilla, Warners is the first Hollywood studio of the year to clear the $1 billion mark at the international box office.
April 14, 7:20 a.m.: Updated with Sunday estimates.
April 14, 11 a.m.: Updated with international estimates.
This story was originally published April 14 at 9:24 a.m.
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