Ah, the days of Marvel movies making $100+ million automatically over May's first weekend. Those kinds of numbers clearly said to the world that summer moviegoing had started. Such hefty figures were petty much the norm for the 2010s, save for 2011's Thor ($65 million bow) and 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($90 million debut). Those days are long gone, though, as Marvel titles have garnered increasingly divisive responses from the general public. Plus, the expansive movies AND TV lore have made it difficult for general audiences to access these titles. This weekend's Thunderbolts* topped the box office with $76 million, an okay result, though that $180 million budget looms large over the production.
It speaks to how much goodwill the MCU has burned through that Thunderbolts*, despite scoring critical reviews on par with typical Phase Three MCU titles (read: 2016-2019 Marvel fare), had one of the lower domestic bows for the franchise. Four years ago, Black Widow opened a smidge better despite simultaneously dropping as a PVOD title on Disney+. That Marvel Studios logo just isn’t as stainless nor alluring as it was even four years ago.
Still, to the credit of Thunderbolts*, its imaginative marketing campaign did a fine job selling obscure Marvel characters to the masses. Plus, with an A- CinemaScore and solid day-to-day retention over the weekend, it’s doubtful Thunderbolts* is as frontloaded as Brave New World or Quantumania among recent MCU titles. A $200+ million domestic finish is still very much in play for these anti-heroes. In another era, Thunderbolts* totally could have been a Guardians of the Galaxy/Captain Marvel breakout hit. In this current era, it did on par with other 2020s non-sequel MCU fare (Shang-Chi and Eternals both opened in the $70-75 million range).
In second place was the real juggernaut of the current box office landscape, Sinners. Losing those valuable IMAX and premium-large-format screens did nothing to slow down the unstoppable momentum of this Ryan Coogler directorial effort. Sinners still made another $33 million this frame, an impressively tiny 28% dip from last weekend. Sinners isn't just something people want to experience solely in IMAX. It's taken on a vivid life of its own as a must-see cinematic experience. After 17 incredible days, Sinners has taken in $180 million domestically. If it continues to hold well throughout this competitive May, a $300+ million domestic total is in its future. There’s really no way to overstate how remarkable Sinners has been in its box office run.
A Minecraft Movie kept adding new players this weekend as it grossed another $13.7 million, a 40% drop from last weekend. Its domestic total now stands at $398.2 million and it’ll become only the fifth Warner Bros. movie ever to clear $400+ million domestically in the next few days. Remember, before Minecraft, no live-action video game movie had ever cracked $250+ million domestically. This Jared Hess directorial effort has left those kinds of financial benchmarks far in the dust.
The Accountant 2 took a hit with a new action movie entering the marketplace. Then again, given that this and Thunderbolts* have radically different MPAA ratings, perhaps the Accountant fanbase just went out in droves to see it opening weekend. Grossing $9.4 million this frame, Accountant 2 fell 61% and has grossed $41.1 million after ten days. Until Dawn had a solid second weekend drop for a horror movie, but after its underwhelming debut, it’s too little too late. A 53% fall still gave this project only $3.8 million for a ten day gross of $14.35 million.
Just outside the top five was The Amateur with $1.8 million, a 51% drop from last weekend. This one’s now grossed $36.93 million in North America. The King of Kings continued its steep post-Easter decline as it grossed another $1.66 million this frame, a 61% plummet from last weekend. This low-budget animated feature has already massed $57.6 million, though, so Angel Studios is in the clear. Warfare fell 52% in its fourth weekend to gross another $1.27 million. That brings this war feature up to a $24 million domestic haul. Even with its domestic run winding down, Warfare should become only the 14th A24 movie ever to clear $25+ million domestically.
Rounding out the bottom of the top ten was HIT: The 3rd Case, which opened to $955,000 from 590 theaters. Guru Nanak Jahaz, meanwhile, grossed $685,000 from only 119 locations. Then there was the only other new wide release in the marketplace,The Surfer. With just $674,560 from 1,085 theaters, this Roadside Attractions release only scored $621 per theater. An underwhelming bow, not much else to say here.
The Legend of Ochi had a far from fantastical second weekend hold. Plummeting 76% (way bigger than usual for a family movie), Ochi only grossed another $341,951 for a domestic total just south of $2.2 million. Captain America: Brave New World got a massive 49% boost this weekend, presumably through Disney attaching it as a double-feature to drive-in screenings of Thunderbolts*. This feature grossed another $161,000 for a $200.39 million domestic total.
Greenwich Entertainment dropped Bonjour Tristesse into 228 locations, but it only grossed $102,600 for a middling $450 per theater average. After expanding into over 200 locations last weekends, The Shrouds lost 110 theaters this frame. Unsurprisingly, it fell 69% to gross another $90,600 for a $600,317 domestic total. Pavements opened to $13,164 from a single theater this frame while Mulcanizadora also bowed in one theater, though it grossed $5,246.
The top ten movies this weekend kicked off May 2024 with a combined gross of $149 million. Rare is the first weekend of May that only grosses $9 million more than the final weekend of April. Typically, May’s inaugural weekend (at least since the late 90s) kicks off summer with a massive newcomer. Thunderbolts* did okay this frame, but it was one of the lower first weekend of May openings in recent memory.
This weekend reflected how important it is to always have multiple new releases around in the marketplace. Only one feature opened in over 1,100 theaters this frame versus last weekend’s trio of titles each going out into 2,800+ locations. When variety exists in the marketplace, you get more people into theaters. Imagine if a rom-com or even an animated kid’s movie opened against Thunderbolts*. Surely the marketplace could’ve accommodated another title given that there weren’t even ten movies this weekend that grossed $1+ million each.
Unless it’s an Avengers sequel opening in the marketplace, movie studios need to no longer let comic book movie blockbusters open without any competition, for the sake of movie theaters. This has been a problem since even before March 2020 when COVID-19 shut down theaters and changed the industry forever. February 7-9, 2020, for instance, saw Birds of Prey opening below expectations. No other major new wide releases were around to pick up the slack. That phenomenon keeps happening in the 2020s as comic book movies like The Marvels, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, and Joker: Folie a Deux keep tanking with no other new movies in the marketplace. This weekend certainly wasn’t as bad as all that thanks to Thunderbolts* opening to $75+ million and Sinners continuing to rock. Still, there clearly could’ve been room for another wide release this weekend.
While coming in beneath most first weekends of May in the last decade (save for 2024 when The Fall Guy meekly kicked off the summer), at least May 2025’s first frame came in 6% ahead of May 2-4, 2014 when The Amazing Spider-Man 2 premiered. Strong holdovers like Sinners also ensured this frame was also only down 5% from May 5-7, 2023 when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 ruled the marketplace. May 2025 has some strong weekends ahead (though next weekend is inexplicably devoid of major studio releases), with Memorial Day weekend shaping up to be a beast thanks to incoming Disney and Tom Cruise tentpoles. April 2025 was a box office bonanza. May 2025 can still keep that momentum rolling. Major studios will just have to give theaters more than one movie a week.