Alex Garland’s “Civil War” will not be causing riots in the streets, or theaters.
Last night, the overwrought film about America in turmoil made $8 million. Combined with Thursday, they’ve banked almost $11 million.
The weekend projection is $26 million. But “Civil War” is not a crowdpleaser. It has a B minus Cinemascore and a 79% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. This means customers who exit the theaters are not excited to come back or tell friends.
“Civil War” is a mess. Rather than being incendiary, it’s flaccid. Just shooting characters in the head without warning doesn’t make compelling drama. I think audiences must have had the same issues as critics: who’s fighting for what? And why?
Meantime, “Godzilla x Kong” is still outselling “Ghostbusters Frozen Empire” three-to-1. Even if “Ghostbusters” does well this weekend it still won’t hit $100 million by Sunday night. That probably won’t happen until the end of next week.