A24 Records Highest Weekend Box Office Take With 'Civil War'

Alex Garland's Civil War has opened at the US box office with a debut of $25.7 million, making it A24's biggest opening weekend to date. The figure surpasses the studio's previous best, 2020's Everything Everywhere All At Once, which opened at $3.8 million. Civil War's opening makes it the seventh-biggest for a new film in 2024 so far. It is also A24's tenth-biggest film at the US and Canadian box offices, surpassing Sundance hit The Green Knight. Civil War's box office performance is notable given its limited marketing campaign, with the studio spending only $20 million on promotion compared to the film's $50 million production budget.

The figure tops Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire's $15.5 million opening last week, which pushed the blockbuster down to second place. The New Empire has made $157.9 million in the US and Canada and $436.5 million worldwide, nearing the $450 million mark. The figure is just shy of Godzilla vs. Kong's $529.1 million worldwide gross in 2021.

Elsewhere at the US box office, Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire made $5.8 million in its second week to take third place, while Kung Fu Panda 4 generated $5.5 million in its third week to take fourth. Dune: Part 2 rounded out the top five with $4.3 million in its fourth week to push its total to $272.1 million.

Civil War's success has buoyed A24, which has gained a reputation for releasing quality films in the last decade, including everything from Midsommar to The Florida Project to The Whale. However, the company is not known for box office hits and has yet to produce a film that has made over $100 million at the global box office, with the previous biggest opening weekend domestically prior to Civil War being Hereditary's $13.6 million in 2018. Civil War has garnered critical acclaim since its SXSW premiere, with an 83 percent "Certified Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 77 percent audience score.

Civil War stars Nathan Lane and Andrea Riseborough and follows a story of revenge set during the American Civil War. The film is directed by Ex Machina's Alex Garland and marks a departure from his previous sci-fi fare.

Notably, A24 is also behind George Miller's upcoming film, Napoleon, starring John Hurt as the legendary French emperor, which will be released on July 15, 2023. The company has several other projects, including a television expansion, with Netflix's anthology series Singles ahead of its second season premiere on August 4, 2023.