Alex Garland may have wanted to step away from directing, but A24 may lure him back in after Civil War brought in the studio’s biggest opening.
The dystopian thriller stormed the box office with $25.7 million in its debut. It has now overtaken 2018’s Hereditary, which opened in fourth place to $13.6 million.
It should be noted that Garland’s Civil War is their most expensive movie of all time, costing over $50 million and using around $20 million and then some in marketing.
Civil War was initially projected to open around the $15 million to $20 million range, but it soon began overperforming in certain marketing, leading to the word-of-mouth surge. Ironically, the film saw movement in Los Angeles, California, and El Paso, Texas, two states involved in the film’s war.
Given Civil War‘s inherently political nature, Screen Engine/Comscore’s PostTrak polled the American political parties that turned out. According to the report (per Deadline), “22% considered themselves Liberal, 19% were Democrats, and 11% considered themselves moderate. Registered Republicans (6%) and politically conservative folks (5%) showed up as a minority.”
Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire dropped to second place, adding $15.4 million in its third weekend, and Sony’s Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire rounded out the top three with $5.3 million.
SEE ALSO: Read our Civil War review here
Civil War was this weekend’s only new release, playing on premium large formats like Imax and Dolby Cinemas.
