Civil War Captures A24 Record $24 Million Box Office Opening

Civil War is set to capture the box office this weekend with a $24 million opening. The A24 movie has made some waves online as the biggest opening for the studio. Some estimates have the Kirsten Dunst political drama reaching as high as $27 million this weekend.  Some other familiar faces in this tale of a divided America will go a long way to driving turnout as well. Cailee Spaeny has left her beehive behind for this one and Nick Offerman is not doing any laughing in Civil War. But, there is some wonder about how far this political thriller can go in the "new movie landscape" where there are no sure things.

ComicBook.com recently spoke with the movie's star Kirsten Dunst. She told us that the project was a long time coming. The beloved actress has been a fan of Alex Garland for a long time. So, when the opportunity arose, she jumped at it.

"I've been a fan of his since I saw  Ex Machina, and then have read screenplays of his, so I didn't think that it was a possibility I would be able to work with him, so that was really exciting," Dunst revealed. "I was so stoked to get this role. I really thought, 'Wow, he's doing something I've never seen before,' and I want to be a part of things like that. So I always migrate to the people that are pushing boundaries or I hope to work with them, the people that are doing things that no one else thinks to do, or I migrate to those kinds of filmmakers."

How Good Is Civil War?

With all this fervor, a lot of people have been talking about Civil War since that gripping trailer dropped. Some of the reviews for Garland's latest have questioned the reluctance to name the conflict that birthed this split in America. ComicBook.com's Kofi Outlaw had the pleasure of reviewing this movie for the site and touted the visual storytelling in Civil War. This movie brings the goods on an IMAX screen.

"Civil War marks the most ambitious and large-scale project that Alex Garland has ever taken on. There's sure to be a furious debate of the socio-political implications of the film, but what can't be debated is the visual accomplishment here, which deserves the scope of an IMAX screen," Outlaw argues. "Garland and his longtime collaborator, cinematographer Rob Hardy (Annihilation, Ex Machina, Mission: Impossible – Fallout) strike a deep chord of resonance by turning our current Americana landscape (from the cookie-cutter strip malls to the urban centers, small-town suburbs, and rural regions) into hauntingly real wartime landscapes."

He continues, "There is imagery in Civil War that will be impossible to forget – whether its bodies blown to bits in a block of midtown Manhattan, bodies strung up in a car wash, or carnage littering the sides of the highway; all familiar settings turned into war zones." 

Are you headed to the cinema this weekend? Let us know down in the comments!