Disney's Marvel: 'Civil War' Has No. 5 All-Time Opening

It was a marvelous opening weekend for Chris Evans’ Captain America and cohorts indeed as Civil War — Robert Downey Jr.’s Ironman is the arch nemesis — scored the fifth highest domestic box office event with $181.8 million. Combined with receipts from its international release last week, the tentpole produced by Marvel Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, has already earned $678.4 million globally.

Directed by Cleveland-bred, Truffaut-loving brothers Joe and Anthony Russo, as Deadline’s Mike Fleming Jr. reveals, the movie is “a hit with critics (91% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes) and moviegoers (92% say they liked it), guaranteeing long-term playability, says comScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian,” reports Patrick Ryan for USA Today.

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“This is such an awesome way to officially kick off summer,” Dergarabedian gushes. “It's just a phenomenal movie with great word of mouth and excellent social-media buzz. A lot of people are figuring out that this is a de facto Avengers movie, and it goes beyond Captain America to incorporate other superheroes in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

“[Marvel Studios] has increasingly found a way to stretch who these movies are for,” Dave Hollis, the studio's distribution chief, tells the Los Angeles Times’ Tre'vell Anderson. “That's really the secret to being able to have a film do these type of numbers.”

That and the marketing, Anderson continues. “Though technically a Captain America movie, Civil War was marketed like the first two Avengers films, by emphasizing the return of beloved characters. Besides Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Evans' title character, the new picture features Marvel heroes such as Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, Don Cheadle’s War Machine and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man. It also introduces Tom Holland as Spider-Man.”

In case you’re wondering what all the bad blood is about, here’s the gist of it, as per the trailer and a Google synopsis: “Captain America believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference. Iron Man sharply disagrees and supports oversight. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, Black Widow and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) must pick a side.”

The New York Times’ Brooks Barnes points to the Disney juggernaut, writing: “It is Disney’s multiplex. The rest of Hollywood just visits once in awhile.” It has had the No. 1 movie in North America for 11 of the last 21 weekends, “and some box office analysts predict Civil War will remain the top draw for the next two weekends,” he says. “After that, a new movie — also from Disney — may well take over the top slot: Alice Through the Looking Glass. Not long after, Disney will release one of the summer’s most anticipated movies: Finding Dory, a sequel to Pixar’s Finding Nemo.”

In terms of blockbuster numbers, “the studio surpassed the $1 billion domestic mark for 2016 with $1.121 billion to date in just 128 days — easily beating the previous record set last year of 165 days,” reportsVariety’s Dave McNary. “It also topped $2 billion internationally with $2.22 billion to date and $3 billion globally with $3.341 billion to date, topping the marks set last year by Universal in June following the opening of Jurassic World.”

Not that Civil War it was perfect on all scores. 

After issuing several spoiler alerts, Vanity Fair’s Joanna Robinson suggests that it was disappointingly heavy-handed in a “a sweet, human bonding moment” between Steve “Captain America” Rogers and Bucky “The Winter Soldier” Barnes “but one that also bristles with heterosexual virility.” It was, in fact, the movie’s “one flaw,” according to the headline, in squelching any hint of a bromance.

Academics weighed in, too — always an indication that popular culture has crossed over into realms beyond the marketing prowess of mere mortals.

“They … say they wanted to create a movie that reflects some of the ambiguities of real-world politics. The movie is very good and highly entertaining. However, its understanding of politics ducks the real political issues that superheroes would pose,” writes Henry Farrell, associate professor of political science and international affairs at George Washington University, for the Washington Post

Let’s start with the fact that they are not elected. Oh, and on whose authority, exactly, are they intervening in the internal affairs of other countries?

Who in the Sixties would have thought that the fist-smacking, building-leaping action heroes of 12-cent comic books would conjure such heavy thinking? Or that anything could attract such attention, in this day and age, without the keyword “Trump” attached to it?

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