Civil War Stays Hot at Box Office in Second Weekend

Civil War looks to capture a second weekend box office victory.

Civil War is poised to win the box office again this week. But, the blood-sucking Abigail is lurking to spoil A24’s party. Alex Garland’s war drama is looking at an $11 million weekend, a decent showing after Friday’s $3.25 million take. Now, a lot of people would have expected Civil War to fall off in weekend two, but that doesn’t look like the case here. Poor Abigail seems to be up against this success story for the film twitter darling company. Still, a $10 million showing this weekend isn’t anything to sneeze at. Both of these movies will come in ahead of The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare‘s projection of $8.7 million. 

Still, a lot of observers note the strange environment that persists at theater houses across the globe. Despite the focus on slightly more varied offerings at the cinema, the massive numbers of yesteryear look like aberations in the light. Every movie isn’t going to be Dune: Part Two or Godzilla x Kong. However, some were hoping for a sunnier Spring frame than this one is shaping up to be. (However, as compared to some recent years, there’s a lot to be encouraged by with 2024’s releases. Especially considering Dune is the only massive tentpole that’s been deployed in the early months of this year.)

Civil War Provides Staying Power At Theaters

A lot of the conversation surrounding Civil War before the movie released highlighted the “charged” political posturing of the trailer. ComicBook.com had the chance to speak to the cast about the intense moments in Civil War. For some of the actors, it can be hard to shake off these performances and move on. Clearly theater-goers have been enthralled by the story being told by Alex Garland.

“I was just talking about this, the tension in films like that, when I did Narcos, we were dealing with a lot of heavy scenes and all that,” Wagner Moura told us. “It’s not in your mind, it’s not an intellectual thing. Your mind is free when you rap. Right? I’m going to go somewhere, I’m going to smoke a cigarette, have a drink, but the body, it sort of stays there, right? So I don’t know how to shake it off, actually. And those keeping up with life, seeing people that you love and maybe love. Love is the answer, though.” 

We also broached the topic with Cailee Spaeny. She shares some of the real-life war journalists her performance was inspired by. “I read a lot about three in particular,” Spaeny mused. “Don McCullin, Lee Miller, who my character looks up to, and who I think about all the time now. And Lynsey Addario, who is working today, and then Alex himself grew up with journalists. His dad was a political cartoonist, and so he had so many personal stories and mentors that were from the journalism world and has such a love for them, and so I think that’s really injected into this story.” 

Are you surprised Civil War topped the box office this weekend? Catch all of our pop culture discussion at @ComicBook on social media!