Captain Marvel opened in theaters last week and in addition to generally having a huge opening at the box office, the latest Marvel Studios film is breaking records in specific pockets of that box office reporting. The film is now the fifth biggest opening of all-time in IMAX theaters and the first non-sequel to do so.
According to PR Newswire, Captain Marvel grossed $14.1 million on 411 IMAX screened domestically, the second biggest March opening ever. Internationally, the film brought in $22 million on 964 screens making it the best international opening for Marvel in IMAX and the second biggest international IMAX opening of all-time.
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“IMAX is honored to be part of the spectacular performance of Captain Marvel, the biggest superhero origin story opening in IMAX history that has earned its rank among the highest-grossing IMAX openings ever,” said IMAX CEO Richard L. Gelfond. “Captain Marvel marks an incredible start to what is shaping up to be a very strong 2019 lineup and sets the stage for the highly anticipated Avengers: Endgame, which was shot entirely with IMAX® cameras.”
As for coming in fifth in IMAX global opening weekend rankings overall, the film is in good company. Star Wars: The Force Awakens tops the list while Jurassic World, Avengers: Infinity War, and Star Wars: The Last Jedi take the next three slots.
The IMAX receipts all go into the larger total for Captain Marvel which easily won the box office this weekend. The film is also currently the top-grossing movie thus far for 2019 and while Captain Marvel is unlikely to maintain the overall top spot by year’s end — there are still quite a few movies hitting theaters yet in 2019, including the massively-anticipated Avengers: Endgame — if the box office success continues Captain Marvel should remain pretty high on the list. The first Marvel Studios film headlined by a female hero, Captain Marvel has drawn some comparisons to Black Panther, which was Marvel Studios’ first film led by a black hero. During a visit to the Captain Marvel set, Larson spoke a bit about those comparisons and the high expectations that they set.
“I don’t know how it’s any different. To be honest, I don’t want it to feel different,” Larson explained. “I’m kind of over the ‘First female blah blah blah,’ and ‘Wow, maybe women can actually do the same things that dudes can do – what a crazy concept!’ I feel like the more we talk about it, the more we perpetuate the myth that it’s an impossible task. No, if it wasn’t like that before, it’s because it was wrong. That was just wrong. Now we’re just doing what’s natural.
“It’ll be what it is, and I think there’s gonna be lot there for people to digest and feel,” she continued. “And hopefully it’ll be the movie that you want to revisit again and again, and as life goes on, it’ll have more to it. I just want to make art that lasts. I want to make art that you grow with. That’s all.”
Captain Marvel is in theaters now.
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