'Civil War' Is Good For $11 Million at Friday Box Office

'Godzilla x Kong' passed $100 million in China while both 'Monkey Man' and 'The First Omen' took harsh drops on their second Friday against A24's adult-skewing tentpole.

Civil War easily topped the Friday box office with a resounding $10.82 million, giving A24 their biggest single-day gross and their first Friday (and likely weekend) chart-topper ever. Alex Garland’s well-reviewed (83% fresh and 7.1/10 on Rotten Tomatoes) and relatively well-received (a 78% “verified” RT audience score, a 3.8/5 on Letterboxed and a B- from CinemaScore) ode to the costs and necessary evils of wartime photojournalism is by far the indie studio’s most expensive film, coming in at around $50 million. There’s a case to be made that a (projected) over/under $25 million opening weekend would merely be par for the course in a more theatrically-friendly ecosystem. Fifteen years ago, noting cheaper tickets, a film like this might have opened with $15-$20 million without breaking a sweat. But in 2024, with general audiences comparatively reluctant to show up for anything non-pre-sold, it qualifies as a testament to A24’s value as a relative butts-in-seats brand.