Civil War Becomes A24's Second Movie Ever To Hit $100 Million At The Box Office
Even though chatter has died down quite a bit since the movie opened in early April, A24's "Civil War" has managed to do pretty well for itself at the box office. Director Alex Garland's politically-charged view of a future America divided by war has found an audience even as bigger movies like "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire," "The Fall Guy," and now "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes" have entered the marketplace. So much so that it now ranks as A24's second-biggest movie of all time at the global box office, and only the company's second title to cross the $100 million mark.
In its fifth weekend of release, "Civil War" added $1.8 million domestically to its growing total. It stayed in the top ten, coming in just above the re-release of "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace" ($1.5 million) and just below "Kung Fu Panda 4" ($1.82 million). That now brings the film's domestic total to $65.2 million to go with a solid $42.5 million from overseas for a grand total of $107.7 million. What's more, it still has a release pending in China in June, as well as in Japan much later this year in October. So there is still money on the table for months to come.
A24 bet big on this ambitious, searing war film, boasting a $50 million budget. That makes it the biggest film ever produced by the studio, known for hits such as "Hereditary," "Lady Bird," and the Best Picture winner "Moonlight." Most importantly, the film now ranks second only to 2022's "Everything Everywhere All at Once," which made $143.4 million globally and also went on to win Best Picture during its sweep of the Oscars. Whether or not Garland's latest garners any awards season love later this year remains to be seen.
A24 went big with Civil War and it's starting to pay off
"Civil War" shot out of the gate with A24's biggest opening day and weekend ever, topping the charts with just shy of $26 million in its first frame. It benefited greatly from a slow start at the box office in 2024, with very little direct competition in the way at first. Because the film was relatively expensive with a sizable marketing campaign, it still has a way to go before reaching profitability from its theatrical run alone. That said, the movie has held quite well week-to-week and it still has some gas in the tank. Luckily, between VOD and the output deal that A24 has with the Max streaming service, it has a good shot at getting into profits with post-theatrical revenue at this point.
All due respect to Kirsten Dunst, but this is a movie that has found its audience without any big A-list movie stars, and without a franchise hook. In a year where things have looked pretty grim on the theatrical side of the movie business, it's nice to see an original story that doesn't pull any punches doing meaningful numbers. If it can continue to leg out and find an audience in the markets it has left to open, it has an outside shot at becoming A24's biggest movie ever. That would be impressive.
It's important as the studio, despite its reputation, has not had all that many big hits, save for a few breakouts like last year's "Talk to Me." More often, A24 has faced disappointments such as 2018's "Under the Silver Lake," which is why the studio is trying to make more audience-friendly bets while staying true to its principles. So far, that seems to be working. Fingers crossed for more of the same in the coming months/years.
"Civil War" is in theaters now.