Marvel Studios' Thunderbolts opened with $76 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, kicking off the summer box office with a solid No. 1 debut that fell shy of Marvel's more spectacular launches. All eyes had been on whether Thunderbolts, a teaming of antihero rejects similar to Avengers, could restore the Walt Disney Co. superhero factory to the kind of box office performance the studio once enjoyed regularly. The results—similar to the debuts of The Eternals ($71 million) and Ant-Man and the Wasp ($75 million)—suggested Marvel's malaise won't be so easy to snap out of, the AP reports.
Some had expected a bigger opening for Thunderbolts; reviews (88% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) have been excellent for the film directed by Jake Schreier and starring Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Sebastian Stan. Audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore. That kind of response should power Thunderbolts to strong business in the coming weeks. "Marvel set the bar so high for so many years that a $76 million opening may seem to some like it should have done $100 million or something like that," said Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore. "This is a great reset." Distributor Falling Forward Films didn't report box office for Rust, the Alec Baldwin Western released more than three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set. Estimates suggested the film grossed approximately $25,000 in 115 theaters.
Below are estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at US and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.
- Thunderbolts, $76 million.
- Sinners, $33 million.
- A Minecraft Movie, $13.7 million.
- The Accountant 2, $9.5 million.
- Until Dawn, $3.8 million.
- The Amateur, $1.8 million.
- The King of Kings, $1.7 million.
- Warfare, $1.3 million.
- Hit: The Third Case, $869,667.
- The Surfer, $674,560.
(More
box office stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
