Captain Marvel Scores a Huge Worldwide Debut
by EG
Among superhero characters headlining their first movies, Captain Marvel is impressive. She's bigger than Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Ant-Man, or any other Marvel character other than Black Panther. She's even bigger than Wonder Woman. Read on for details about the movie's opening this weekend.
Higher, further, faster.
That's an apt moniker for the box office debut of Captain Marvel, the first female-led superhero pic from Marvel Studios and Disney. The movie, starring Brie Larson, scored the sixth-best worldwide start of all time with $455 million, including $153 million in North America and a whopping $302 million overseas, which repped the fifth-best foreign opening in history.
Captain Marvel's performance so far internationally is of particular significance in the quest for gender equality on the big screen, signaling to Hollywood studios that an event pic starring a woman can hold its own around the world and rival action tentpoles featuring men.
“I think we tend to perpetuate myths that are simply untrue, such as that men won’t watch a female-led superhero movie, or that African-American superhero movies won’t play overseas. Over and over again, we see that those myths are just stories that we tell ourselves to make the same type of movies in the same way," says newly installed Imax Entertainment president Megan Colligan, who previously led marketing and distribution at Paramount. "The studios who have said no to those myths and have pushed to defy them have been wildly successful.”
Captain Marvel did huge business in Imax theaters — a favorite haunt of fanboys — which contributed $36.1 million globally. That included $22 million overseas, the second-biggest weekend for the premium exhibitor behind Jurassic World.
"People want great movies with strong specific stories and characters they can relate to and they can believe in," says Colligan. Or, as Disney distribution chief Cathleen Taff puts it, "People crave representation."
In summer 2017, DC and Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman made box office history in debuting to $103 million in North America, proving that a female-led superhero pic could do huge business. The film, starring Gal Gadot, topped out at a mighty $412.6 million domestically. Internationally, it finished its run at $409.2 million.
Get the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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