海角大神

Marvel鈥檚 newest film 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War鈥� easily came in first at the box office over the May 6 weekend, with the movie now holding the record for the fifth-best opening at the domestic box office ever.聽

鈥淐aptain,鈥� which stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., and many more, grossed more than $181 million in its US opening weekend. Not only did paying moviegoers flock to the film but it also received mostly positive reviews from critics.聽

The film had already opened overseas, an increasingly common strategy, and has so far grossed more than $678 million when international revenues are taken into account.聽

The other films at the box office, most of which were holdovers from previous weekends, were far below 鈥淐aptain.鈥� Disney鈥檚 latest live-action adaption of one of its animated movies, "The Jungle Book," came in second, grossing more than $21 million domestically, while the Garry Marshall comedy 鈥淢other鈥檚 Day鈥� came in third, grossing 9 million, the Associated Press reports.

Meanwhile, the Snow White film 鈥淭he Huntsman: Winter鈥檚 War鈥� placed fourth, grossing more than $3 million, and the Key & Peele comedy 鈥楰eanu鈥� came in fifth, grossing more than $3 million as well.聽

In terms of best debuts of all time, 鈥淐aptain鈥� is below the 2012 box office smash 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� and 2015鈥檚 鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron.鈥澛�

After 鈥淯ltron,鈥� Marvel鈥檚 other movie last summer was 鈥淎nt-Man,鈥� which did well financially ($519 million worldwide) by normal box office standards but was among the studio鈥檚 lesser-grossing films. 鈥淎nt-Man鈥� also got more mixed reviews than, for example, 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War.鈥澛�

So far, some of Marvel鈥檚 best openings have been for films that were also well-received critically, suggesting these reviews could be a factor. For example, 2012鈥檚 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� got better reviews than 鈥淎vengers: Age of Ultron鈥� and had a bigger opening weekend. Monitor film critic Peter Rainer gave 鈥淎vengers鈥� a B grade, while he awarded 鈥淯ltron鈥� a B-, calling 鈥淯ltron鈥� 鈥渟emi-enjoyable but not as good.鈥� 聽Rainer gave聽鈥淐aptain America: Civil War鈥� a B-.

However, simple anticipation can provide a big box office opening even if reviews aren鈥檛 as stellar. While 鈥淯ltron鈥� didn鈥檛 get as positive reviews as "The Avengers" or 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War,鈥� it still has one of the best opening weekends of all time. Audience members were perhaps remembering 2012鈥檚 鈥淭he Avengers鈥� fondly and wanted to check out the second chapter even if reviews weren鈥檛 as good as they were for the first.

Why did the 鈥淎vengers鈥� movies and 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War鈥� sell more tickets than any other Marvel movies for their opening weekends? MTV writer Ryan J. Downey writes that when it came to the 2012 鈥淎vengers鈥� movies, bringing multiple superheroes together seemed to help its financial results. Both 鈥淯ltron鈥� and 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War鈥� also feature many heroes. 鈥淲hen it comes to superhero team-ups, it looks like the whole truly is greater than the sum of its parts,鈥� Mr. Downey wrote.

Opening weekends aside, the fact that 鈥淐aptain America: Civil War鈥� has gotten more positive reviews than either of the 鈥淎vengers鈥� movies may mean it has a long life at the box office, as noted by Lindsey Bahr of the Associated Press.

鈥淎udiences 鈥� gave the film a promising 鈥楢鈥� CinemaScore, which should bode well for the film's longevity,鈥� Ms. Bahr writes. 鈥溾��Great reviews and word of mouth will surely distinguish 鈥楥ivil War鈥� from 鈥楤atman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice,鈥� which, by comparison, opened to $166 million in late March but fell sharply over the subsequent weekends.鈥�