In the run up to the release of Captain America, there was a lot of debate over whether it would ignite audience interest, especially as it came towards the end of a very superhero heavy summer. However not only have US viewers proved they are interested in the Cap, but the film has actually had the best opening for a non-sequel this season with $65.8 million, just beating out fellow Avenger Thor’s $65. 7 million.
It’s a pretty good start, and with audiences scoring Captain America higher than Thor on exit polls, it suggests the Chris Evans starrer should have legs over the coming weeks (although whether a movie with ‘America’ in the title will play as well overseas is yet to be seen).
Harry Potter meanwhile dropped a massive 71% from its opening last weekend, which is a huge fall, but perhaps not surprising considering just how well it did in its first three days. It’s now made $274 million in the US in only 10 days, with is still well ahead of where any of the the other Potter flicks have been at this stage. Worldwide it also suffered a big drop but nevertheless added another $121 million to its tally. It means that in only a weeks and a bit, the movie has grossed $834 million dollars globally, which puts it well on its way to becoming the first of the wizardy flicks to cross a billion dollars at the worldwide box office.
The only other opener in the US top 10 was Friends With Benefits, which made an okay $18.5 million. That’s a little less than the similarly themed No Strings Attached made in January, despite better reviews. However it’s possible the purported raunchiness put some US audience members off. However with positive word of mouth it could do well over the comign weeks.
Take a look below for the US box office top 10 for the weekend of July 22nd-24th.
Rank | Title | Weekend Gross (millions) | Total Gross to date (millions) |
1 | Captain America: the First Avenger | $65.8 | $65.8 |
2 | Harry Potter And The Deathy Hallows – Part 2 | $48.0 | $274.1 |
3 | Friends With Benefits | $18.5 | $18.5 |
4 | Transformers: Dark Of The Moon | $12.0 | $325.7 |
5 | Horrible Bosses | $11.7 | $82.4 |
6 | Zookeeper | $8.7 | $59.2 |
7 | Cars 2 | $5.7 | $176.4 |
8 | Winnie The Pooh | $5.1 | $17.5 |
9 | Bad Teacher | $2.6 | $94.3 |
10 | Midnight In Paris | $1.8 | $44.8 |