Captain America: Brave New World's box office performance is proving challenging. While the film has already amassed approximately $289.4 million globally, a significant 68% drop in domestic revenue during its second weekend raises concerns about its profitability.
According to Deadline, the film's $180 million production budget necessitates a global box office gross of around $425 million to break even. Despite a strong opening weekend with a $100 million domestic haul, the second weekend's $28.2 million gross mirrors the disappointing performance of 2023's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which ultimately failed to reach profitability. This substantial drop, even with limited competition, suggests a decline in audience enthusiasm for Marvel films, as noted by Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. Deadline projects a final global gross of approximately $450 million.
The film's less-than-stellar critical reception, including IGN's 5/10 review citing a lack of innovation and underwhelming plot, likely contributed to the steep decline. Marvel Studios and Disney are hoping for a resurgence in ticket sales to counteract this negative trend, particularly given the underperformance of recent MCU films (excluding Deadpool & Wolverine). The success of upcoming releases, including Thunderbolts in May and The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July, hinges on reversing this downward trajectory.
