"Captain America: Brave New World" is inching closer to the $300 million mark at the global box office, yet a significant 68% drop in domestic earnings during its second weekend poses a challenge for the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film to reach its break-even point. According to Deadline, the movie, which boasts a production budget of $180 million, needs to gross around $425 million to break even.
The action-packed film, led by Anthony Mackie, exceeded initial projections by raking in $100 million domestically over the Presidents Day weekend. However, its second weekend saw a sharp decline to $28.2 million domestically, mirroring the steep drop experienced by "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" in 2023, which ultimately failed to break even.
After just two weekends, "Captain America: Brave New World" has accumulated an estimated $289.4 million worldwide, with $141.2 million from the domestic market and $148.2 million from international territories, as reported by Comscore. The film's global earnings for the second weekend totaled $63.5 million.
Despite being the top-grossing film of 2025 so far, the movie's second weekend performance was expected to be stronger, especially with no major competing blockbusters on the horizon. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore, commented to Variety, "This is the new normal for Marvel movies. There’s still no denying these movies have appeal. But a second weekend drop of 68% reflects less audience enthusiasm than you’d expect from Marvel."
Deadline predicts that "Captain America: Brave New World" will ultimately reach about $450 million globally. The film's launch was met with lukewarm reviews, with IGN giving it a 5/10 score, stating, "Captain America: Brave New World feels neither brave, nor all that new, falling short of strong performances from Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, and Carl Lumbly."
Marvel Studios and its parent company, Disney, are banking on the film to regain momentum and reverse the recent downward trend for MCU movies, excluding the success of last year's "Deadpool & Wolverine." The hope is to build anticipation for upcoming releases like "Thunderbolts*" in May and "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" in July.
