Summary
Captain America: Brave New Worldis off to a good start…sort of. With less than a month to its cinematic debut, the MCU 2025 opener’s ticket pre-sales have been better than previous Marvel bombs but nowhere near the numbers of the MCU’s high days.
SinceAvengers: Endgame,the MCU has not been accustomed to the commercial success it once enjoyed, but in recent times, its fortunes have improved. As part of the MCU’s Phase Five,Captain America: Brave New Worldis coming off the backs of immensely successful films such asDeadpool and Wolverine—which bowed with $1.3 billion at the box office—andGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, and also poor-to-mild outings such asThe MarvelsandAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.Previousprojections forCaptain America: Brave New World’s domestic three-day opening at the box office reached as high as $95 million.
Ticket pre-sales forCaptain America:Brave New Worldat the U.S. box office began on Friday, January 17. According to box office analyst,Luiz Fernando on X, the figures after two days were 40% better thanThe Marvelsand DC’sJoker: Folie à Deuxwhile going toe-to-toe withEternals,Black Widow,andDune Part Two. Interpreting the pre-sales figures to box office opening, he projects that the movie could see an opening weekend similar to, or beyond,Shang Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings,Captain America: The First Avenger,Eternals,andThor.
Anthony Mackie and friends will not only be enjoying the audience boost of Valentine’s Day, but also that of the President’s Day holiday, which falls on February 18—extending the movie’s opening weekend to four days—brings. Comic book movies have generally taken advantage of this holiday. It’s for no reason that the top three highest-grossing movies on President’s Day have been from this genre—specifically from the MCU—with 2018’sBlack Panther,Deadpool,Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniahauling $40.1 million, $19.7 million and $14.2 million respectively, per data fromBox Office Mojo.
Captain America:Brave New World’s bad press from multiple reshootsaside, if the pre-sales is anything to go by, it is almost guaranteed that it will finish above the $400 million range ofEternalsandBlack Widow,but still not the near-billion success that Kevin Feige may have hoped. Nonetheless, it is important to note that ticket pre-sales are not the most solid metric on which to base box office projections. Put another way, good pre-sales have not always translated to superb box office performance. A good example isJustice League beating Wonder Woman’s Fandango ticket pre-salesbut finishing with $200 million less than the latter at the box office.
There’s no overstating the pressure that Mackie and director Julius Onah are on withCaptain America:Brave New World.Most of the general audience still picture Chris Evans as Captain America and would need a lot of convincing to see another take the mantle. Thatthe movie’s franchise-predecessor isDeadpool & Wolverineis also a blessing and curse.Deadpool & Wolverinebrought back mainstream success for the MCU, being the franchise’s first billion-grosser since 2019’sSpiderman: No Way Home.Yet, it also sets a forgone precedent thatCaptain America: Brave New Worldmight not be able to replicate. What Feige might consider a good box office run will most likely be anything in the range of, or above,Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s $714 million finish.
Captain America: Brave New World
Cast
Captain America: Brave New World (formerly titledNew World Order)marks Sam Wilson’s first MCU big-screen appearance as Steve Rogers' successor after receiving the suit and shield in Phase 4’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Anthony Mackie returns as the titular Avenger alongside Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Carl Lumby as Isaiah Bradley, and Tim Blake Nelson as The Incredible Hulk’s former ally Samuel Sterns. Harrison Ford makes his MCU debut replacing the late William Hurt as Thaddeus Ross.
