Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War’ On Track To Exceed Box Office Expectations After $25.7 Million Opening Weekend

As Civil War hits the front lines of cinemas, its first weekend on the big screen is already exceeding expectations. Directed by Alex Garland, Civil War takes place in an America on the cusp of war with itself, as reporters race against time to unravel the conspiracy of events taking place.

Distributed by A24, the film is led by Kirsten Dunst, alongside Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, Nick Offerman, and Stephen McKinley Henderson.

Civil War is the fifth directorial credit for director Garland, after Ex Machina, Annihilation, Men, and the television mini-series Devs. On top of writing the scripts for his films, he also wrote 28 Days Later, Dredd, and many other works. 

Civil War brought in $10.8 million on the first Friday of circulation at the box office. This put it on track for an estimated opening of over $25 million, beating out holdover titles like Godzilla X Kong and Dune: Part Two. 

As Hollywood Reporter points out, Civil War only has a production budget of about $50 million, meaning it’ll already match half its budget by the weekend’s close. Despite a lower price tag than other big-screen endeavors, this is the highest-budgeted film A24 has taken on. 

The general reception of audiences may hinder the box office returns. The film has taken on a mixed reception thanks to its subject matter. Despite that, Hollywood Reporter also pointed out that the film mostly tends to stay away from a political leaning, one way or another. Critically, the film sports a Certified Fresh score of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.6 out of 10 on IMDb. 

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Here are this weekend’s domestic grosses (via TheNumbers)

1. Civil War Gross: $25,712,608, Total Gross: $25,712,608
2. Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire Gross: $15,450,000, Total Gross: $157,932,000
3. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Gross: $5,800,000, Total Gross: $96,967,000
4. Kung Fu Panda 4. Gross: $5,500,000, Total Gross: $173,688,000
5. Dune: Part Two Gross: $4,320,000, Total Gross: $272,104,000
6. Monkey Man Gross: $4,100,000, Total Gross: $17,765,000
7. The First Omen Gross: $3,781,000, Total Gross: $14,638,113
8. The Long Game Gross: $1,390,000, Total Gross: $1,390,000
9. Shrek 2 (Re-Release) Gross: $1,350,000, Total Gross: $442,777,000
10. Sting Gross: $1,200,000, Total Gross: $1,200,000