At this point, much has been made of the fact that Avengers: Endgame absolutely obliterated the box office over the weekend. But it turns out it was an even better weekend for Marvel than some may realize. Not only because they're already rolling in the dough after their latest movie has been in theaters for less than a week, but because Captain Marvel, their previous release, received a nice little boost at the box office, largely thanks to Avengers: Endgame.
Captain Marvel, in its eighth weekend of release, finished number two at the box office with $8.3 million. That pales in comparison to the blistering $356 million that Avengers: Endgame nabbed over the weekend domestically, on its way to $1.22 billion worldwide, thanks to an incredibly strong showing overseas. Still, it means Marvel Studios, and ultimately Disney, controlled the two top movies in theaters this weekend. Captain Marvel did actually make slightly less this week than it did last week when it brought in $9.1 million. Though it does seem, in both cases, that the boost had to do with fans getting ready for the follow-up to Infinity War.
In any event, it's incredibly rare for a movie to be that high on the box office charts this deep into its release. But it speaks volumes about the brand that Marvel has managed to build. It also probably doesn't hurt that certain fans who were a little late to the game probably used this first busy weekend as an excuse to see Captain Marvel while waiting to see Avengers: Endgame once the rush dies down, at least a little bit.
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It's an excellent time, in this case, to be Oscar-winner Brie Larson. This means she has starred in two movies already in 2019 that have grossed more than $1 billion at the box office. Captain Marvel now sits at $1.1 billion worldwide. When all is said and done, it's all but assured that Avengers: Endgame will pass the $2 billion mark, if not Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie ever. Both of the movies in which Larson's character Carol Danvers appears have been received very well by critics and, not for nothing, but her directorial debut Unicorn Store also recently debuted on Netflix. Everything's coming up Larson this year.
Brie Larson was initially announced as Captain Marvel during Marvel's San Diego Comic-Con presentation in 2016. So this victory lap has been a long time coming. That said, it would have been very difficult to predict just how well things were going to go for this character in the MCU at that particular time. As Avengers: Endgame essentially serves as the conclusion of the 22-movie arc that got us there, it would seem that Marvel has at least one big, bright star to help lead them into the future, wherever that may be. Captain Marvel 2 hasn't yet been announced, though that seems like a guarantee at this point. These numbers were provided by Box Office Mojo.
