Captain America: Brave New World is looking presidential after all as Marvel Studios attempts to reboot the franchise with an entirely new cast
The year’s first tentpole is reporting a four-day domestic opening of $100 million over the long Valentine’s Day/Presidents Day weekend, including $88.4 million for the three days. Numbers should shift again on Sunday, but either way, it is coming in ahead of expectations.
Globally, it’s starting off with $192.4 million after launching to $92.4 million internationally.
The movie scored one of the top domestic openings for the Presidents Day holiday and the biggest opening of 2025 to date. That’s no small feat considering that many critics dissed the movie. Nor were some moviegoers impressed — Brave New World received a B- CinemaScore from audiences, the worst grade given to any title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Not all viewers feel the same, of course. Brave New World boasts a pleasing 80 percent audience ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
The movie’s over-performance underscores the pent-up demand for a big event pic. It also underscores the value of appealing to a ethnically diverse cast, as well as kids and parents, who loved the film, according to PostTrak. This gives Captain America the advantage of playing as a family film. In terms of the ethnic breakdown, Black moviegoers (23 percent) over-indexed by a large degree. Caucasians made up 35 percent of ticket buyers, followed by Latinos (23 percent), Asians (10 percent) and Native American/Other, per exit polling service PostTrak. The gender split was 62 percent male and 48 percent female; another sign that it is playing to a broader audience than just fanboys, who can often represent as much as 70 percent of ticket buyers.
It’s back to the basics when it comes to the new movie, which sees Anthony Mackie‘s Sam Wilson take up the mantle of Captain America, the hero previously played by Chris Evans. Costing around $180 million to produce before marketing, the movie stays away from sci-fi elements and the multiverse and has been described by Marvel boss Kevin Feige as a “relatively grounded action film,” akin to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, the 2014 film that starred Evans and introduced Mackie to the MCU (put another way, no multiverse).
Directed by Julius Onah, Brave New World also stars Harrison Ford as newly elected U.S. President Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross, who wants to bring Captain America aboard in an official military position. But before Wilson can make a decision, he uncovers a nefarious global plot that includes facing off with Ross when the president unexpectedly transforms into the Red Hulk. Danny Ramirez also stars, portraying Joaquin Torres/Falcon, alongside Liv Tyler, Tim Blake Nelson and Rosa Salazar.
The film scored the fourth-biggest Presidents Day four-day launch behind three other Marvel pics; 2018’s Black Panther ($242.2 million), which shattered records for director Ryan Coogler and Marvel/Disney in becoming the first Hollywood tentpole to feature a virtually all-Black cast; Ryan Reynolds’ maverick and groundbreaking 2016 film Deadpool ($152.2 million) and 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($120 million), not adjusted for inflation.
Captain America‘s performance is good news for Marvel, which had to take serious stock of its strategy and future after several films faltered, culminating with The Marvels. The studio is in a far better place now thanks to the stunning success of Deadpool & Wolverine, which became the top-grossing R-rated pic of all time after earning north of $1.3 billion globally in the summer of 2024. The studio is hoping for a solid swing with Captain America, which faced its share of challenges in getting to the big screen, but that will depend on its staying power.
Coming in at No. 2 in North America is Paddington in Peru, the third installment in StudioCanal’s beloved franchise (Columbia Pictures/Sony is distributing the threequel domestically).
Paddington 3 is reporting an estimated four-day launch of $16 million, including north of $13 million for the three days. It boasts a 94 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes and an A CinemaScore from audiences. It has already earned $115.8 million internationally, including $19 million from Sony-distributed markets for a global cume of more than $131 million through Sunday, if not north of $140 million.
The $90 million film was developed and fully financed by StudioCanal, which is also a partner on Miramax, Universal and Working Title’s Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the long-awaited fourth and final installment in the series, headlined by Renée Zellweger. (Miramax financed and produced).
Bridget Jones went straight to Universal’s streaming service Peacock in the U.S. in a Valentine’s gift to existing subscribers and in a bid to lure new subs. It is, however, getting a theatrical release overseas, where it opened to an impressive $35.5 million (Universal is handling the pic in most markets).
Among holdovers, Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s Dog Man continued to bark away, earning $12.5 million over the four-day holiday for a domestic tally of $69.6 million through its third weekend.
Spyglass’ Valentine’s Day-themed slasher pic Heart Eyes enjoyed a major boost in its second weekend thanks to the holiday, grossing an estimated $11.1 million for the four days for a domestic tally of $22.6 million through Monday against a modest $18 million budget. Sony’s Screen Gems is distributing the film.
The Chinese-language animated blockbuster Ze Zha 2 — which has earned north of $1.1 billion overseas— opened in six theaters in the U.S. It rounded out the top five with a stellar four-day gross of $8.3 million.
At the awards box office, Searchlight’s Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown starring Timothée Chalamet crossed the $70 million mark domestically in another notable milestone after crossing $100 million in worldwide ticket sales last week. In the coming days, the biopic is expected to become Searchlight’s fifth-biggest film ever, not adjusted for inflation.
Estimates could shift by Monday morning.
