Thunderbolts* assembles $11 million in Thursday night previews

The newest Marvel Studios movie has arrived and is following the successes of A Minecraft Movie and Sinners at the box office, which float well above a sea of flops this year. While both aforementioned films performed above expectations, it would usually be a safe bet that the new entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe performs just as well, but this current phase has told a different story. While certain anticipated titles like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Deadpool & Wolverine were sure-fire moneymakers, others have not fared as well as the movies in past phases pre-Avengers: Endgame. Thunderbolts* is projected to draw between $70-$75 million domestically and another $90-$100 million internationally. The newest superhero film is getting positive feedback with a critics’ aggregate rating of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 95% audience score. Deadline is reporting that the Thursday night early previews of Thunderbolts have already earned the film $11 million at the box office.

This places its early debut just under Captain America: Brave New World, which had a Thursday night earning of $12 million. However, it did earn more than titles like Shang-Chi and the Legend of Ten Rings, which took in $8.8 million, and Eternals, which brought in $9.5 million. Thunderbolts* will also have the benefit of premium theaters, which include IMAX, Dolby, ScreenX, 4DX and the like.

For our weekend box office predictions, Thunderbolts* doesn’t seem likely to open much higher than $75 million. That’s a solid number, but it’s far from the usual boffo opening the MCU used to take for granted. There’s been a bit of fatigue setting in to the franchise, which is getting an all-or-nothing revitalization next year with Avengers: Doomsday, but so far 2025 has been off to a mild start for the studio. While Captain America: Brave New World opened to $88 million, many believe the movie, which crawled to a $200 million domestic gross, was a disappointment. Thus, a $75 million opening for Thunderbolts will be considered modest, although there is a chance it could make more than expected, given the decent early buzz.

Our own Chris Bumbray enjoyed Thunderbolts*, finding it a “significant step-up” from Captain America: Brave New World. However, he cautioned that it’s not the “game-changer” that some of the early reactions suggested. “With Marvel movies, the first wave of reviews almost always fall prey to too much hype,” Bumbray wrote. “Even still, I had a better time with Thunderbolts than any other Marvel movie (outside of Deadpool & Wolverine), in recent memory (I’d wager Guardians 3 was the last great one). Granted, the bar hasn’t been too high recently, but this is very decent and hopefully moves the franchise back in the right direction, where we actually can start investing in new characters and having favourites again.” You can check out the rest of his review right here.

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