Captain Marvel shattered box office glass ceilings everywhere this weekend when the superhero movie raked in over $455 million worldwide —including $153 million in North America alone.
The female-fronted film, led by Brie Larson, made the most money in its debut than any other movie with a woman at its helm in Hollywood history. It was also the second most successful for any superhero pic behind Avengers: Infinity War ($640.5 million), according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Overall, it’s the sixth-best worldwide opener of all time, beating out the international debuts other smash hits such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens ($281 million).
In North America, specifically, Marvel and Disney’s comic adaptation made history by surpassing the $103 million grossed by DC’s Wonder Woman on its first weekend to become the biggest movie debut featuring a woman in the lead role.
“Marvel Studios once again proves that stories combining diverse perspectives and different experiences make great movies that play to everybody. People crave representation,” Disney distribution chief Cathleen Taff told THR. “Higher, further, faster, baby.”
Moviegoers were clearly undeterred by a campaign to derail the pic with negative audience reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and awarded it with an A CinemaScore and strong exit grades, according to THR.
Nearly 60% of ticket purchasers were male (compared to 52% on Wonder Woman‘s opening weekend). The audience was also diverse — 48% Caucasian, 20% Hispanic, 17% African-American and 15% Asian/Other.
Thanks for reading InsideHook. Sign up for our daily newsletter and be in the know.
