Marvel's New Team Hits Big with $31. 5 Million Opening

The new Marvel movie "Thunderbolts" made a strong start with $31. 5 million in its opening day. This was from showings in 4, 330 theaters across the country. The movie features a group of lesser-known Marvel characters. This team-up is expected to bring in between $70 million and $75 million over the weekend. The film also got a boost from special screenings in Imax and other premium theaters. This is a big deal for Marvel. It shows that even with less famous characters, they can still draw a crowd. However, it also shows that Marvel's power at the box office might be fading. If the predictions are right, "Thunderbolts" will have one of the smaller openings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It might even make less than "Black Widow" and "Guardians of the Galaxy, " which also featured teams of misfit heroes. Looking at recent movies, "Thunderbolts" is behind "Captain America: Brave New World, " which opened with $40. 9 million. That movie had more recognizable characters but got bad reviews. It ended up making $200 million in North America, which is not great for a Marvel movie. The hope for "Thunderbolts" is that it will keep audiences interested longer. The movie has gotten good reviews and a high score from moviegoers. This is important because it cost a lot to make and market. It needs to do well globally to make a profit. The movie stars Florence Pugh, David Harbour, and Sebastian Stan, among others. It is directed by Jake Schreier. Meanwhile, "Sinners" is still doing well in its third weekend, adding $9. 5 million. It lost some premium screenings to "Thunderbolts" but is still holding strong. "Sinners" has shown great staying power and is on track to become one of the highest-grossing movies of the year. Warner Bros. also has "A Minecraft Movie" in third place. It made another $3. 1 million on Friday, pushing its total to $387. 6 million. It is close to becoming one of the top 50 highest-grossing movies of all time. Warner Bros. is also trying new things with "Block Party Edition" screenings, where audiences can sing along and participate in internet memes. "The Accountant 2" is in fourth place, making $2. 6 million on Friday. It is behind the original "Accountant" movie, which is not good news considering it cost more to make. Amazon, which released the movie, might not care as much about theatrical grosses. They have other ways to make money from the film. "Until Dawn" is in fifth place, making $1. 1 million on Friday. It is expected to make $3. 6 million in its second weekend, which is a big drop from its opening. Also opening this weekend is "The Surfer, " a Nicolas Cage thriller. It made $320, 000 on Friday and might struggle to make the top 10.