The battle of the box office has been won by A24 and Alex Garland’s Civil War, which defied expectations (ours included) to take first place at the box office. Comscore is estimating an $11.1 million weekend for the controversial film, which posted a modest 56% decline at the box office, which is way better than anyone was expecting. Indeed, the film has a $44 million running total at the North American box office, which is great for a movie like this, especially considering how divisive it’s been.

However, Civil War’s good fortune means this week’s big new horror release, Abigail, seriously underperformed. Radio Silence’s well-reviewed vampire flick made a disappointing $10.2 million, which is a shame as it’s a nifty little movie. Potentially, word-of-mouth could give it a boost, but let’s face it – that doesn’t happen with horror movies. They’re always front-loaded, so the chances of Abigail really doing well next weekend are limited. Just look at what happened to The First Omen. It opened soft (despite good reviews), and this weekend, it sunk like a stone to 10th place, ending any chance of a franchise.

Meanwhile, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire continued to do well, making just under $10 million this weekend for a $171 million total, well on its way to a strong finish north of $200 million. But, the news wasn’t as rosy for Guy Ritchie’s The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, which opened to a low $9 million. The movie would have no doubt opened better were it not designated as a Prime Video Original in every other territory, including Canada. 

CrunchyRoll’s anime release Spy x Family Code: White made $4.87, which is pretty great considering how niche of a title it is. Kung Fu Panda 4 continued to pull in family audiences (despite already being available digitally) with a $4.6 million weekend. While it will no doubt finish south of $200 million, it’ll still be the second highest-grossing film in the franchise, which is great for a fourth entry.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire made $4.4 million with $102 million total. That’s an OK number but it remains to be seen whether or not that’s enough to sustain a franchise. Dune Part Two hit digital last week, but still managed to make $2.9 million, for a $276 million total. That’s great, but I question the wisdom of such an early digital release, as the movie could have probably made its way to $300 million had it not been released at home so early. Finally, Dev Patel’s Monkey Man made $2.2 million for a total north of $21 million, while The First Omen is cratering at 10th place with an underwhelming $17 million total.

Next weekend sees the release of Challengers, which stars Zendaya and is getting incredible buzz. Will it topple Civil War? We’ll have to wait and see. 

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Many things about the movie Civil War are meant to be incendiary. The very concept of the movie, which has been released during an election year when the political culture could seemingly mirror the extreme reality of the film, is enough to make a general movie goer feel uneasy. There is dynamic imagery in the trailers that showcase American cities in peril, and although that can be seen in almost any high-budget action movie, these sequences hit differently. However, with everything that Civil War does to illicit an uncomfortable response from an audience, a controversy has recently come from the less likely place — the way they made their marketing.

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that a new ad campaign for the movie has been getting a lot of negative attention online. Civil War has released five new posters that aim to depict some haunting situations of American cities in shambles due to the war. However, these posters have been called out for having something off about them. They were made using AI. The posters in question were posted on the film’s Instagram and some were displayed as prints. A source explained, “These are AI images inspired by the movie. The entire movie is a big ‘what if’ and so we wanted to continue that thought on social — powerful imagery of iconic landmarks with that dystopian realism.”

AI is an immensely hot-button topic right now. While many wondrous things can be generated by these programs, there still lies an unsettling uncanny valley effect to whatever has been made. Some productions have experimented with it for its feeling of abstract like the title sequences for Marvel’s Secret Invasion and Late Night with the Devil. Both of these projects have come under fire for using AI instead of artists. And Civil War is also getting caught in the crossfire.

One person online had responded to the images, saying, “You know DAMN well how the film community feels about the use of AI Generated content. And the backlash [to AI generated stills featured in the horror film] Late Night With The Devil was more than enough to make that transparently clear to everyone: WE DO NOT WANT THIS. How stupid of your marketing team to even think this was acceptable. We are trying our hardest to fight against the push of opening Pandora’s Box with this shit and here you are willfully ignoring everyone’s concerns in that matter.”

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Alex Garland’s Civil War has proven to be one of the biggest water-cooler movies in recent memory. It’s the movie everyone is talking about, with it posting studio A24’s biggest opening ever, and inspiring plenty of hot takes on social media. Love it or hate it (we loved it), everyone definitely has an opinion on one of the film’s most controversial aspects: the fact that the movie depicts a divided America where California and Texas, two political opposites, have joined forces against the rest of the country.

While many are saying there’s no way a famously red state and a famously blue state would ever join forces, we recently sat down with Garland, who believes that were people to be faced with the rule of a fascist president (as depicted in the film), party politics might not be as important as people think.

“I’m sure it got to read at times like this is some British guy who doesn’t understand anything about American politics,” said Garland, who says he didn’t simply want to make a film that adds to the current, divisive discourse. “Personally, I was trying to make a more subtle point, which is to do with what Texas and California might have in common. And one of the things they might have in common as American states, whatever differences they might have or disagreements within, by the way, what are themselves very complex states individually with all sorts of a range of views within them, is that they might agree that a polarized position is less important than a fascist president.”

He adds, “They could agree on that. They might say that somebody who is corrupt and is undermining systems of checks and balances and is saying journalists will be, you know, shot on sight in DC, that is to say, intimidating journalists or, somebody who has dismantled one of the legal systems that might threaten them.. that that is a more serious problem than their polarization.”

While he agrees that some might not be able to get past their own political POV to agree that such a thing is possible, to him that in itself is problematic. “Their polarization would be more important than a fascist president who was bombing their own citizens. Then that itself is an indictment of polarization because how could your Republican-Democrat status be more important than whether someone is killing their own citizens or undermining the Constitution?”

Garland does state, however, that the film is not meant to be apolitical. “I get how it might seem. It might seem sort of apolitical. It’s not apolitical; it’s just a different form of political; it’s not actually Republican-Democrat.  As it happens, I am left-wing, but I have lots of right-wing friends, and I’m very content to have them. I don’t make a value judgment about someone as a person, as a good or a bad person, based on whether they think, whether they believe in a free market or a regulated market.”

Have you seen Civil War, and do you agree with Garland’s thesis? Let us know in the comments below!

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Alex Garland’s Civil War performed close to our expectations this weekend, grossing an estimated $25.7 million (via ComScore’s early numbers) to post what’s easily A24’s biggest opening weekend ever. In fact, it isn’t even close, with Alex Garland’s speculative film almost doubling the previous record holder, Hereditary, which opened with $13.6 million. This is quite a coup for what’s being billed as the studio’s biggest-budget movie ever, which is a still modest $50 million. Given the rave reviews and the fact that it will likely become a water-cooler film, one can expect the film to hold up relatively well over the next few weeks, with it is unlikely anything next weekend is going to over-index unless horror flick Abigail winds up becoming a smash.

Meanwhile, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire dropped a relatively modest 50% in week two to post a $15.4 million weekend, for a $157.9 million total. It will easily top $200 million at the domestic box office, making this a huge hit for Legendary’s MonsterVerse (check out our rankings here). However, the picture was less rosy for last weekend’s two holdovers, Monkey Man and The First Omen, which were overtaken by Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, Kung Fu Panda 4 and Dune: Part Two. Monkey Man fell 59% to a $4.1 million weekend, which landed it in sixth place for a $17.7 million total. While it won’t be a huge money maker for Universal, it likely will eke out a profit, as it was acquired for a modest $10 million. Disney/ 20th Century Studios’ The First Omen lost 55% of its audience following its underwhelming opening for a $3.78 million weekend, with its total only $14 million so far. Getting to $20 million might be tough for this well-reviewed prequel.

In happier news, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire has come back from the dead a bit at the box office, with it moving up to an unexpected third-place finish with a $5.8 million weekend. It’s pretty close to crossing the $100 million domestic mark, although whether or not that’s enough for Sony to greenlight another movie in the franchise remains to be seen. Despite already being on home media, Kung Fu Panda 4 continued to draw in family audiences, making $5.5 million for a $173 million total. Dune: Part Two’s blockbuster run continued, moving to fifth place with a $4.3 million weekend and a $272 million domestic haul. 

Meanwhile, the Dennis Quaid-led Christian sports film, The Long Game, opened with $1.39 million, with it almost being overtaken by a re-release of the Dreamworks classic, Shrek 2, which made $1.35 million. Finally, the top 10 was rounded out by South Korean rapper SUGA’s concert film, which made $999k for a total of $2.2 million (it opened on Wednesday).

Next weekend sees the release of two new genre entries, Guy Ritchie’s The League of Ungentlemanly Warfare, and Radio Silence’s horror flick, Abigail. Which one do you think will top the box office? Let us know in the comments!

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As we predicted earlier this week, Alex Garland’s speculative war flick, Civil War, is well on its way to becoming A24’s biggest opening ever. According to Deadline’s box office numbers, the film grossed $10 million on Thursday and Friday, with it now expected to make about $23 million. That’s a solid number for a hardcore, R-rated adult movie, but the studio behind it, A24, really has a knack for making their films an event for serious filmgoers. In fact, it’s one of the only studios I know of that has a legit following, with Deadline making the interesting point that A24 is like the HBO of movie companies. There’s a certain quality level you can always be sure of, and indeed, we gave Civil War a rave.

Otherwise, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is once again defying industry expectations, with it outpacing their estimates, on its way to a $13-15 million weekend. Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire should take third place, making $4.6 million, with it within a hair of passing the $100 million mark. Fourth place will go to Dev Patel’s well-reviewed Monkey Man, which is falling about 56% to a $4.5 million weekend. Last weekend’s bomb, The First Omen, isn’t likely to make fifth place, with it being outgrossed by Kung Fu Panda 4, which is likely going to make about $4.4 million. Given that there’s only an estimated $200k difference between the third, fourth and fifth positions at the box office, the order could easily change by tomorrow. I would expect The First Omen to make a pretty swift debut on Hulu, where this solid horror flick might pick up a following after seemingly being overlooked by horror audiences. Hopefully, Abigail will have better luck next week. 

What have you gone to see this weekend? Let us know in the comments. 

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Once upon a time, Sam Raimi was set to direct Spider-Man 4 with Toby Maguire and Kirsten Dunst both returning to star. However, the project wasn’t coming together quickly enough for Sony’s liking and the studio elected to reboot the entire franchise with The Amazing Spider-Man. Thanks to Maguire reprising the role of Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, there’s been an interest in returning to the original franchise, but could Spider-Man 4 actually happen?

While speaking with IndieWire, Kirsten Dunst was asked if she would even want to do Spider-Man 4, which left the actress wondering whether we really needed the sequel. “It would depend. I don’t know,” Dunst said. “Honestly, do we need it?“

Dunst continued: “I don’t think we need that. I don’t know. It was so long ago. I just don’t know how they would, what the story would be. I don’t know. It seems like … I don’t know! It would really depend on the script, and also, I don’t know, you’re really putting yourself out there in a way that … let’s maybe leave things when they were good. You know what I mean?“

Sam Raimi has expressed an interest in returning for Spider-Man 4 when the time is right but downplayed the rumors earlier this month. “I did read that [rumor], but I’m not actually working on it yet,” Raimi explained. “Marvel and Columbia are so successful with current Spider-Man [movies], and the track there, and I don’t know that they’re going to go back to me, and say, ‘Well, folks, we can also tell that story!’” As fun as it might be to see the original cast return for Spider-Man 4, I feel like I agree with Kirsten Dunst at this point; is it really needed when we have so many other successful Spider-Man projects?

Kirsten Dunst can currently be seen starring in Alex Garland’s Civil War. Our own Chris Bumbray loved the movie, but is curious how general audiences will react to the potentially controversial movie. “It asks us to take a long, hard look at what’s happening around us and demands that we look beyond politics and recognize what we have in common rather than what we don’t,” Bumbray wrote. “It’s a plea for peace in that, like other movies of this nature, notably the apocalyptic drama The Day After, it dares to show us hell in the hope of keeping it from ever happening.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s review right here.

Would you like to see Spider-Man 4?

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PLOT: In the United States, amid a brutal civil war, a team of journalists drive from New York to Washington D.C, where they’ve been promised an interview with the president. 

REVIEW: A24 is the only movie studio I know of that’s picked up a cult following of its own. Their brand has become one of the most trusted among discerning film fans, delivering a slew of interesting, provocative movies that fit all genres. In some ways, they are a throwback to an older kind of filmmaking in that they’ve never focused on chasing franchises and have always been filmmaker-focused. They’ve always taken risks, and it’s paid off more than it hasn’t. However, their latest film, Civil War, is arguably their riskiest movie, sporting their biggest budget (north of $50 million) and subject matter that could be seen as a bit of a political powder keg.

For me, it marks Alex Garland’s most ambitious and perhaps his best work as a director. Civil War, while a war film, is likely scarier than anything you’ll see in a movie theater this year. Indeed, Garland’s depiction of a fractured America half destroyed by war is unsettling in a way that hits too close to home. While many have taken issue with the idea that it would center around Texas and California joining forces to take on the rest of the country (which is led by a fascist president played by Nick Offerman), there’s a reason for this. Garland strategically pairs a notoriously red state with a notoriously blue one in that his war isn’t painted as one party against another. If anything, the film is a desperate plea that we have to find some common ground, and the war is presented as a tragedy rife with atrocities on both sides, with neither side being racially homogenous. 

Garland’s film cost a reported $50 million, but it looks like it cost at least twice that, with Civil War jampacked with visceral action sequences that look especially impressive on an IMAX screen. The story is told through a group of embedded journalists, none of whom are presented with any explicit bias. Many of the battle sequences are shot in a way that makes it confusing which side is which, serving the movie’s ultimate purpose, which is to depict the tragedy of a civil war that finds fellow citizens killing their own.

Kirsten Dunst has possibly her best role as Lee, a burnt-out photographer who’s dulled herself to the chaos she sees around her so much that none of it registers as much more than an opportunity to take a photo. Her humanity is somewhat rekindled when her Reuters colleague Joel (Wagner Moura), a hot-shot addicted to the adrenalin rush of the job, invites a young photographer to join them on the road. Cailee Spaeny’s Jessie is shown to be reckless and green, with no survival instinct at all, leading Lee to take her under her wing. The three are joined by Stephen McKinley Henderson’s Sammy, who is dead set on covering the war until its end despite his age and mobility issues. 

Most of the film centres around their violent cross-country odyssey. Each town they visit puts them in the line of fire as they encounter vigilantes, reckless journalists, war deniers, and a dangerously unhinged soldier in the movie’s standout scene (played by a terrific Jesse Plemons in a small, potent role). 

Dunst’s portrayal is believable, with her fitting the portrait of a former hot shot, celebrity journalist worn down by the job to a tee. Looking believably tired and worn, she always holds your sympathy and makes for an ideal companion on this cinematic journey into the inferno. The movie seems heavily inspired by Haskell Wexler’s Medium Cool, with her performance similar in some ways to Robert Forster’s in that film in that she’s become so indifferent to the chaos around her that nothing registers anymore. Spaeny is tasked with playing the opposite role. She’s a live wire that feels everything, constantly putting her in danger. Meanwhile, Henderson’s Sammy is the voice of reason, while Moura’s hot shot Joel is the reckless one who, at one point, admits that a firefight happening near them is making him “hard.”

Garland shoots the film in a way that presents some graphic imagery, like a man being set on fire, in a shockingly matter-of-fact way. It’ll be an experience many will find hard to shake, with Rob Hardy’s IMAX visuals helping make this one of the most visceral and immersive films in recent years. It’s all complimented by a terrific soundtrack by composers Ben Salisbury and Portishead’s Geoff Barrow. It contains some unique and powerful needle drops, including an ironic use of De La Soul and two songs by the punk band Suicide.

It’ll be interesting to see how general audiences react to Civil War, as it’s controversial by design. It asks us to take a long, hard look at what’s happening around us and demands that we look beyond politics and recognize what we have in common rather than what we don’t. It’s a plea for peace in that, like other movies of this nature, notably the apocalyptic drama The Day After, it dares to show us hell in the hope of keeping it from ever happening.

Civil War

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Alex Garland’s Civil War could make A24 history by becoming the studio’s biggest earner out of the gate at the box office. The doom-tinged drama marched on $2.9M during Thursday night previews and could secure $20M throughout the weekend. Civil War gives A24 its best preview number, doubling Hereditary’s preview take of $1.3M. While theater owners and A24 are excited by the film’s early earnings, the film’s good fortune must continue to gain the project’s expenses back.

Civil War reportedly cost north of $50M, with an estimated $20M in promotional materials. Garland’s divisive film plays in 3,800 theaters, with IMAX screens as an additional option. Interestingly, reactions to the Civil War’s subject matter are mixed, with some viewers reporting disturbances in theaters as people get riled up. With social tensions in a fragile place within the United States, Garland’s film can send the wrong message to some. Garland says he wants the movie to be an eye-opener and conversation starter, though we’ll need to wait to see if his intended message is received. To find out what our editor-in-chief, Chris Bumbray, thought, read his review here.

In Civil War, “19 states secede from the United States, with factions forming in the West and Florida. Meanwhile, the President says the conflict will be dealt with swiftly, but are things already impossible to control? While some choose to engage with the catastrophe head-on, others prefer to pretend like it’s not happening right outside their door. As the President sends the American military out to “resolve” matters in the West, people are left to despair as the world burns around them. Meanwhile, Kirsten Dunst’s character appears to be leading a team of journalists toward the U.S. Capitol, presumably to get answers about how they plan to quell the ongoing violence.”

Meanwhile, Nicolas Cage’s Arcadian is looking at a low single-digit start. In Arcadian, a father and his twin teenage sons fight to survive in a remote farmhouse at the world’s end. Critics enjoyed the Benjamin Brewer-directed drama, but audiences could have been kinder.

As totals roll in, we’ll update you about Civil War‘s weekend box office numbers. In the meantime, will you go to the movies this weekend? I hope to catch Monkey Man or Civil War on Sunday, but we’ll see. Tell us about your theater plans in the comments section below.

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Alex Garland‘s Civil War has turned a lot of heads on a number of issues. His hypothetical film about a modern-day civil war can be incendiary on its concept alone, and with a lesser respected filmmaker and studio behind the project, many would accuse the film of exploiting a seemingly boiling issue. However, Garland is a director that movie fans know isn’t necessarily going to emulate Michael Bay after such heady films like Men and Annihilation. When the trailers were released and it was revealed that the film featured an alliance between two states with notably opposing politics, many questioned the possibility and purpose behind it.

So, how did California and Texas unite to form the Western Forces? According to The Hollywood Reporter, Garland addressed this decision at a special screening of the film. The director says it was “intentional” as it was “partly to get around a kind of reflexive, polarizing position that people might fall into, that’s one thing, but actually that’s not the main thing. The main thing is to do with how the president is presented and what can be inferred from that.” Nick Offerman plays the president in the film, who uses air strikes on American citizens as a way of acquiring additional terms.

Garland continued to expound, “Then it’s saying that two states that have a different political position have said, ‘Our political difference is less important than this.’ And then the counter to that is if you cannot conceive of that, what you’re saying is that your polarized political position would be more important than a fascist president. Which, when you put it like that, I would suggest, is insane. That’s an insane position to hold. So it’s sort of an oblique commentary and I think that’s how the film works in general. It’s not explaining this stuff but it’s also not avoiding this stuff.”

Offerman would also add that the plot point of the Western Forces “serves a few purposes but one of them is to immediately say, ‘This is not supposed to represent the world as it is.’ But I think it also serves to say the way the world is working these days, anything is possible and so quickly.” As Garland wrote the story in 2020, he says having it release in an election year “is really strange, just the sense of déjà vu.” He also says, “I think the film was written really not just about this country, about a weird state we’re in to do with division and polarization and extremism, the things that flow from populism. At the moment I wrote it, I don’t think I imagined it would take four years to get to this point, but also if it did take four years, that things would be so similar.”

Civil War is declared in theaters on April 12.

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What’s so civil about war anyway? Well, nothing, but if we’re talking about Alex Garland’s new movie, Civil War, there is a lot of common ground to be found, as social media’s first reactions out of its SXSW premiere have heaped a ton of praise on the film, citing the sheer tensity, timely themes and a final act that isn’t to be missed.

Check out some of the reactions to Civil War below:

While only a small selection of professional reviews have landed, Civil War sits at a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes as of publication, a fine start overall for Garland’s fourth feature. While not initially landing like his debut, Ex Machina, or his outstanding follow-up Annihilation, it is an improvement over is previous effort, 2022’s Men. But right off the bat, it’s great to see that Civil War does look to be living up to the trailer, which immediately makes me more excited for it.

In Civil War, “19 states secede from the United States, with factions forming in the West and Florida. Meanwhile, the President says the conflict will be dealt with swiftly, but are things already impossible to control? While some choose to engage with the catastrophe head-on, others prefer to pretend like it’s not happening right outside their door. As the President sends the American military out to “resolve” matters in the West, people are left to despair as the world burns around them. Meanwhile, Kirsten Dunst’s character appears to be leading a team of journalists toward the U.S. Capitol, presumably to get answers about how they plan to quell the ongoing violence.”

With such prescient ideas that we won’t be able to help but find links to certain recent events in American history, such a film like Civil War will no doubt connect with its intended audience. Judging by the reactions out of its SXSW on Thursday night, this holds. Having not seen the film yet, it does seem as if Garland – a Brit – is not taking any direct sides in this A24 production, trusting his loyal fanbase.

Civil War is set to break into theaters on April 12th.

What do you think of the first reactions to Civil War? Are you more looking forward to it than before? Let us know!

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