‘Civil War’ succeeds at the box office with $25.7M opening weekend

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Game, set… but there’s not much of a match. “Challengers,” a steamy tennis drama starring Zendaya and directed by Luca Guadagnino, is poised to lead the domestic box office without much in the way of competition. The film, from Amazon MGM, is projected to collect $12 million to $15 million from 3,400 North American theaters in its opening weekend.

Back in 2016, writer/director Shane Black (“Kiss Kiss Bang Bang”) released “The Nice Guys,” a comedic two-hander that starred Ryan Gosling (“Blade Runner 2029”) and Russell Crowe (“Gladiator”) in an unlikely team-up an odd-couple pair of private eyes investigating a missing girl and the mysterious death of a porn star. However, while the film was considered a solid effort, it didn’t do gangbusters at the box office, only earning $71.2 million globally against a budget of $50 million.

Steven Olikara When millions of Americans came together to marvel at the stunning solar eclipse, we saw a rare moment of unity amid the darkness of a country torn apart by polarization. Bookending the same week? The release of action-thriller “Civil War,” now the number one film in America and A24 Films’ most successful release yet. Set against the backdrop of an imagined second American Civil War, the film follows photojournalists led by Lee Smith (Kirsten Dunst), as they capture the horrors of a failed country.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter A24‘s political thriller “Civil War” is resonating not just in red states and blue but overseas, too. Alex Garland’s film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist who traverses a violently divided United States, has grossed $45.7 million in North America and $20 million internationally. Global ticket sales stand at $67.3 million through Monday, and it’s projected to cross $70 million on Tuesday.

Robert Durst has been a part of director Andrew Jarecki’s life for years.In 2005, the director began working on the 2010 film “All Good Things,” starring Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst, and was inspired by the life of Durst and the disappearance of his first wife, Kathleen McCormack.He then followed that up with the 2015 six-part HBO docuseries “The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst,” which explored Durst’s connection to several murders and dramatically concluded with his hot mike admission, “Killed them all, of course.”The series garnered a host of awards and the storyline appeared to be over. However, in 2020, Durst stood trial for the 2000 murder of his good friend, Susan Berman, 55.Critics who had refused to talk to Jarecki for the first “Jinx” series were now testifying in the Berman trial — and he realized that there was another series in the making.“The Jinx: Part Two” debuted on Sunday.Durst was the eldest son of New York City real estate magnate Seymour Durst and first gained headlines for the unsolved 1982 disappearance of McCormack.Berman, one of Durst’s oldest friends who provided an alibi for him when McCormack went missing, was shot outside her home in 2000.Later that year, after being tipped off by his sister that the McCormack investigation had been reopened, Durst went into hiding and moved to Galveston, Texas, where he disguised himself as a mute woman.The following year, Durst was arrested after body parts belonging to his elderly neighbor, Morris Black, 71, were found floating in Galveston Bay.Durst skipped bail but was extradited.

FRIDAY MIDDAY: Mish mosh at the box office with A24’s weekend two of Civil War at $3.5M today/$11M+ and Universal’s Radio Silence R-rated vampire pic, Abigail with $4M today (that includes $1M previews)/$11M vying for No. 1.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director “Civil War” writer-director Alex Garland gave a lengthy interview to Vulture in which he was asked to weigh in on accusations against his film that claim it’s irresponsible to open it in theaters amid such a turbulent election year. Garland’s film is set in an America at war with itself (Texas and California have seceded to become the Western Forces) and follows a group of journalists attempting to interview the U.S. president.

Naman Ramachandran Studiocanal’s Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” debuted atop the U.K and Ireland box office with £2.77 million ($3.4 million), according to numbers from Comscore. It was neck-and-neck for the second spot. Entertainment Film Distributors’ “Civil War,” directed by Alex Garland and starring Kirsten Dunst, debuted with £1.82 million, including previews.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This contains major spoilers for the ending of “Civil War,” now playing in theaters. “Civil War” production designer Caty Maxey was tasked with building a dystopian America that showed bombed-out buildings and abandoned cars that stretched for miles on the freeway. It was all part of her creative brief for Alex Garland’s latest film. Garland drops audiences into the middle of “Civil War.” America is no longer united and there are warring factions.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Kung Fu Panda 4” took top spot at the South Korean box office becoming the film that finally pushed aside local champion “Exhuma,” which had dominated for seven consecutive weeks. But it was an understated victory, rather than a triumphant one, and the exhibition industry’s $5.6 million nationwide haul was among the lowest scoring weekends this year. “Kung Fu Panda 4” earned $2.81 million between Friday and Sunday with a 50.1% market share. Over its full five day run since a Wednesday opening, it enjoyed a $5.96 million total. “Exhuma” slipped to second place in its eight weekend of release.

Rebecca Rubin Senior Film and Media Reporter Director Alex Garland’s provocative dystopian thriller “Civil War” lit up the box office with $25.7 million in its debut. It’s the first A24 movie to lead the charts in North America, setting an opening weekend record for the New York-based specialty studio. It also marks the biggest R-rated start of the year.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic A great many people appear to have come out of “Civil War,” Alex Garland’s a-house-divided-against-itself-can-kick-highly-equipped-military-ass dystopian combat thriller, feeling all shook up. They’re disturbed by it, unsettled by it. They experience the movie as if it were holding a violent mirror up to the simmering rage of America’s current political/spiritual/ ideological divide.

Civil War is having a huge start for A24!

according to Box Office Mojo.The impressive premiere puts it on track for a debut of around $26 million, Variety reported.The $50 million film, from director Alex Garland, follows a team of military-embedded journalists racing against time to reach Washington, D.C. before rebel factions descend upon the White House.Starring Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Offerman and Jesse Plemons, the thriller has been dubbed a “a terrifying premonition of American collapse,” though critics say its political message was “muddled.”The Post’s Johnny Oleksinski went as far as to call it “a torturous, overrated movie without a point,” bashing its script as lousy and the acting as monotonous.Behind “Civil War” was “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire,” which topped the charts when it premiered two weeks ago.

J. Kim Murphy The box office is united behind “Civil War.” A24‘s dystopian thriller earned$10.7 millionfrom 3,838 locations across its opening day and preview screenings, putting itself on track for a debut of around $26 million. The debut figure represents the highest opening day gross ever for A24, besting the $5.1 million earned by 2018’s “Hereditary” in its first screenings.

Tatiana Siegel SPOILER ALERT:This contains major spoilers for the ending of “Civil War,” now playing in theaters. Call it the fog of war. At the height of the blood-soaked third act of Alex Garland’s “Civil War,” audiences may be unsure who is on which side of the battle between two factions in an America torn asunder.

For a while now, voices in the mist who’ve had an early peek at Alex Garland’s dystopian thriller Civil War have warned the film might be irresponsible or too incendiary in its brutal depiction of a United States divided and engulfed in war. In the dire future presented in the film, Americans confront each other in military combat within their own cities, on their own doorsteps.Starring Kirsten Dunst as intrepid war photographer Lee Smith, leading a ragtag crew of journalists into combat zones to capture the harrowing stories and images, the movie certainly does not play shy about showing intense, bloody warfare.

The Purge,” and is about 1% as entertaining.“Civil War”’s schtick is that it’s not specifically political. For instance, as the US devolves into enemy groups of secessionist states, Texas and California have banded together to form the Western Forces.

A24‘s Alex Garland political thriller, Civil War, is off to a solid start with $2.9M in Thursday previews, the movie on its way to $20M+ opening. Nobody, rivals nor A24 are complaining about that for what is the studio’s priciest pic — under $60M before P&A.

Kirsten Dunst is one of the lucky celebs to get Tom Cruie‘s famous Christmas cake!