Disney and Marvel’s superhero sequel CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD led all other movies with $15.0M in new ticket sales in its third weekend. All movies grossed $53.3M, which is dramatically below last year on this same weekend when DUNE: PART TWO opened with $82.5M, and all films brought in $114.7M.
This weekend has turned out to be the slowest of the year, not even coming up to the $54.3M earned during Super Bowl weekend from February 7-9. The good news is that this was only the second weekend in the nine so far this year to have a lower box office than the corresponding weekend from 2024.
BRAVE NEW WORLD is the first movie this year to lead the box office for three consecutive weekends. This is a somewhat rare accomplishment, happening only five times in 2024. Most movies with a 3-in-a-row streak are blockbusters. This was certainly the case last year with MOANA 2, DEADPOOL & WOLVERINE, and INSIDE OUT 2. It can also happen in periods when the release schedule is relatively weak.
That happened last year when MEAN GIRLS was the top-grossing movie over the last three weekends of January and VENOM: THE LAST DANCE had a similar run during the slow period from late October through early November. BRAVE NEW WORLD has also benefitted from going against relatively weak competition, outselling PADDINGTON IN PERU when both were in their first weekend, followed by the openings of THE MONKEY last weekend and LAST BREATH this weekend.
The last movie to win four consecutive weekends was BARBIE, which dominated the summer 2023 box office. BRAVE NEW WORLD is unlikely to continue as the top movie next weekend when it will go up against Warner Bros.’ sci-fi black comedy MICKEY 17, which is expected to earn in the mid-$20M range in its opening.
Out of the five wide-release movies that have opened over the last three weekends, none have earned $15M in their first three days. The top-earning movie of the five was Neon’s THE MONKEY which took in $14.0M last weekend.
BRAVE NEW WORLD’s $15M this weekend was 47% lower than its second weekend of $28.2M, bringing its 17-day totals to $163.7M domestic and $341.8M worldwide. This is the largest third-weekend drop in this franchise’s history, steeper than the 55% weekend #3 drop of CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR in 2016.
BRAVE NEW WORLD will come in lower than the second and third CAPTAIN AMERICA movies, although it should finish with better totals than the first. Here is a look at the performance of all four Captain America movies after 17 days.
Captain America Movies After 17 Days
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER (7/22/2011) – Domestic Opening $65.1M (3,715 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $25.6M (-61%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $13.0M (-49%), Domestic 17-Day $143.2M, Domestic Total $176.7M, Worldwide Total $370.6M, Budget $140M, RT Critics/Audience 80%/75%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER (4/4/2014) – Domestic Opening $95.0M (3,938 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $41.3M (-57%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $25.6M (-38%), Domestic 17-Day $200.5M, Domestic Total $259.8M, Worldwide Total $714.4M, Budget $170M, RT Critics/Audience 90%/92%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR (5/6/2016) – Domestic Opening $179.1M (4,226 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $72.6M (-60%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $32.9M (-55%), Domestic 17-Day $347.2M, Domestic Total $408.1M, Worldwide Total $1,153M, Budget $250M, RT Critics/Audience 90%/89%
- CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD (2/14/2025) – Domestic Opening $88.5M (4,105 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $28.2M (-68%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $15.0M (-47%), Domestic 17-Day $163.7M, Budget $180M, RT Critics/Audience 49%/79%
Not only are BRAVE NEW WORLD’s domestic totals lagging, it is also suffering an even more severe drop in international markets. Whereas the first three Captain America movies brought in an impressive 62% of their total box office from markets outside North America, BRAVE NEW WORLD is only generating 52% from international markets where audiences may now be less receptive to an uber-American superhero story. BRAVE NEW WORLD is in jeopardy of falling short of the $450M it will require in the worldwide box office to make a profit. It sits currently at $342M in total worldwide sales.
Finishing in second place is Focus Feature’s survival thriller LAST BREATH, which opened to $7.8M. The movie is a feature film adaptation of a 2019 Netflix documentary “Last Breath” which chronicled a near-fatal diving accident. It was directed and written by Alex Parkinson, who also made the original documentary. The diver Chris Lemons is a member of a three-man team of saturation divers, working at extreme depths to perform maintenance on undersea gas lines in the North Sea.
When the ship they are tethered to drifts off position after a failure in their positioning system, Lemons is separated from his tether and stranded on the seabed. The movie tells the story of the accident itself followed by the team’s desperate attempts to rescue its imperiled colleague.
In the movie, Parkinson uses impressive visual effects to recreate the North Sea’s treacherous conditions and critical moments of the accident. Finn Cole (F9: THE LAST SAGA) plays Chris Lemons, Woody Harrelson (THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY Part 1 and 2) plays Duncan Allcock and Simu Liu (SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE TEN RINGS) is David Yuasa. The actors underwent specialized training so they could portray deep sea divers with authenticity, including sessions in controlled underwater environments. Critics have been positive about the film, earning a 77% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Associated Press describes the movie as “gripping,” highlighting its skillful recreation of the divers’ intense and suspenseful ordeal. The review notes that the film’s concise 93-minute runtime enhances its tension, making every moment impactful. The Guardian describes the film as a “gripping survival drama,” applauding its portrayal of the high-risk environment of saturation divers and collaboration under extreme circumstances.
The San Francisco Chronicle emphasizes the film’s impressive underwater cinematography and adherence to true events. While noting a weakness in its character development, the review appreciates the fast-paced narrative and the depiction of the vast, isolating oceanic environment.
Underwater filming is an expensive proposition, and Parkinson did a masterful job of creating an immersive, technically correct, star-laden drama on a modest production budget of $29M. It will need to earn $75M in the worldwide box office to be profitable, and after its domestic opening of $7.8M, this might be a reach.
Finishing third is Neon’s THE MONKEY, which took in $6.4M during its second weekend, a drop of 55% from last weekend’s opening. The film’s 10-day domestic total sits at $24.6M, which is the second-highest opening 10 days for any Neon movie, behind last year’s super-successful LONGLEGS. Director Osgood Perkins is behind both films. Here is a quick look at how these two Neon-distributed and Osgood-directed pictures have performed.
THE MONKEY vs. LONGLEGS after 10 Days
THE MONKEY (2/21/2025) – Domestic Opening $14.2M (3,200), Domestic 2nd Weekend $6.5M (-55%), Domestic 10-Day $24.6M, Budget $11M, RT Critics/Audience 78%/59%
- LONGLEGS (7/12/2024) – Domestic Opening $22.4M (2,510), Domestic 2nd Weekend $12.0M (-47%), Domestic 10-Day $44.9M, Domestic Total $73.9M, Worldwide Total $126.9M, Budget $10M, RT Critics/Audience 86%/61%
LONGLEGS made a huge profit for Neon, with $126.9M in total worldwide box office on a very modest production budget of $10M. While THE MONKEY is off to a slower start, it has already crossed over into profitability, with more than $28M worldwide in its first ten days.
Sony’s PADDINGTON IN PERU came in fourth place this weekend by earning $4.5M, a drop of 31%. After 17 days, the live-action animated sequel has earned $31.4M domestic and $164.3M worldwide. This third chapter in the series is running behind the domestic box office of both of its predecessors.
Since its international debut last November, PADDINGTON IN PERU has earned $133.0M outside North America, whereas both PADDINGTON and PADDINGTON 2 earned approximately $250M from international markets. Here is a look at the PADDINGTON franchise box office history.
Paddington Movies After 17 Days
- PADDINGTON (1/16/2015) – Domestic Opening $18.9M (3,303 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $12.3M (-35%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $8.3M (-33%), Domestic 17-day $50.3M, Domestic Total $76.3M, Worldwide Total $326.1M, Budget $55M, RT Critics/Audience 96%/80%
- PADDINGTON 2 (1/12/2018) – Domestic Opening $11.0M (3,702 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $8M (-27%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $5.7M (-29%), Domestic 17-day $32.1M, Domestic Total $40.9M, Worldwide Total $290.1M, Budget $40M, RT Critics/Audience 99%/89%
- PADDINGTON IN PERU (2/14/2025) – Domestic Opening $13.0M (3,890 locations), Domestic 2nd Weekend $6.5M (-49%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $4.5M (-31%), Domestic 17-day $31.6M, Budget $90M, RT Critics/Audience 93%/91%
With its production budget swelling to $90M, PADDINGTON IN PERU could well become the only movie in the series not to reach profitability. It needs $225M in worldwide sales to get there, and so far it has only sold $164.3M. We expect that it will finish up with around $180M. If there are to be future PADDINGTON movies, they will almost certainly be made with a lower budget, to ease the path to profitability.
Universal and DreamWorks’ DOG MAN finished in fifth place with $4.2M in its fifth frame, a drop of 28% from last weekend. After 31 days, this animated kids’ movie based on the Dav Pilkey book series has earned $84.1M domestic and $113.1M worldwide. Here is a look at the two movies adapted from Pilkey’s books.
DOG MAN vs. CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS: THE FIRST EPIC MOVIE after 31 Days
- DOG MAN (1/31/2025) – Domestic Opening $36M, Domestic 2nd Weekend $13.7M (-62%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $9.7M (-30%), Domestic 4th Weekend $5.9M (-40%), Domestic 5th Weekend $4.2M (-28%), Domestic 31-day $84.0M, Budget $40M, RT Critics/Audience 80%/83%
- CAPTAIN UNDERPANTS (6/2/2017) – Domestic Opening $23.9M, Domestic 2nd Weekend $12.2M (-49%), Domestic 3rd Weekend $7.2M (-41%), Domestic 4th Weekend $4.3M (-40%), Domestic 5th Weekend $1.1M (-74%), Domestic 31-day $69.3M, Domestic Total $73.9M, Worldwide Total $125.4M, Budget $40M, RT Critics/Audience 87%/63%
Where Are We as of 2/27/2025
After the 8th week of 2025, the domestic box office stands at 121% compared to 2024 and 71% compared to 2019.
