“Captain Marvel” has continued to dominate the global box office in its second weekend in theaters, leaving newcomers in the dust.
Walt Disney Studios estimated Sunday that the intergalactic superhero fell only 55 percent from its record-breaking opening. This weekend, “Captain Marvel” earned an additional $69.3 million from North American theaters and $119.7 million internationally, bringing its global grosses to $760 million.
With Brie Larson in the title role, “Captain Marvel” has already surpassed the lifetime grosses of a slew of superhero films including “Justice League,” ″Captain America: The Winter Soldier” and “The Amazing Spider-Man.”
Audiences were overwhelmingly female (82 percent) and young (65 percent under age 25 and 45 percent under 18). That the stars involved, like Sprouse who is in the popular TV show “Riverdale,” have a strong fan base and social following motivated young women to turn out to the theaters.
It was a good weekend overall for Lionsgate, which had three films in the top 10, including “Five Feet Apart,” Tyler Perry’s “A Madea Family Funeral,” which landed in fifth place with $8.1 million (behind “How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World”) and the Spanish-language newcomer “No Manches Frida 2,” which opened on only 472 screens and grossed $3.9 million to take sixth place.
Not so lucky was “Captive State,” an alien invasion thriller from Focus Features that floundered in seventh place with $3.2 million against a $25 million budget.
But overall, things are finally looking up for the industry-wide box office. The “Captain Marvel” effect has lowered the year to date deficit nearly 10 percent in a week.
One film that might help: Jordan Peele’s “Get Out” follow-up “Us” hits theaters next weekend and is tracking for an opening north of $40 million. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.
