Chris Evans shirtless in Captain America: The First Avenger
Directed by Joe Johnston, and starring Chris Evans in the title role, Captain America: The First Avenger grossed $25.75 million — including approximately $4 million from midnight screenings — at the North American box office on Friday, July 22, according to studio estimates found at Box Office Mojo. Approximately 40% of Captain America’s box-office take came from 3D movie houses.
For comparison’s sake among 2011’s other movie superheroes: Kenneth Branagh-Chris Hemsworth’s Thor’s opened with $25.5m, Matthew Vaughn-James McAvoy-Michael Fassbender-Jennifer Lawrence’s X-Men: First Class with $21.39m, and Martin Campbell-Ryan Reynolds‘ Green Lantern with $21.38m. Of those, only X-Men: First Class was not released in 3D. Captain America may thus become 2011’s biggest superhero at the domestic box office.
Also in the Captain America: The First Avenger cast: Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, Hugo Weaving, Richard Armitage, Dominic Cooper, and Toby Jones.
Earlier this week, many were wondering if Captain America would be able to beat Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 at the North American box office this weekend. I’m assuming no one was considering a Copper-Canyonesque 84% drop for Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which earned an estimated $14.63m on Friday. Even discounting the $43.5m the latest Harry Potter movie earned at Thursday midnight screenings, it was down a whopping 69% compared to the previous Friday.
That means Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will likely have to wait until Wednesday or Thursday — perhaps even Friday — next week to pass the $300 million milestone in the US/Canada. A little delay, but obviously nothing to be sniffed at.
Directed by David Yates, the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 cast includes Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Helena Bonham Carter, Jason Isaacs, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman, Gary Oldman, Tom Felton, Michael Gambon, John Hurt, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Kelly Macdonald, Ciaran Hinds, David Thewlis, Timothy Spall, Miranda Richardson, Julie Walters, Jim Broadbent, Warwick Davis, and Miriam Margolyes.
At no. 3, 2011’s latest R-rated comedy, Will Gluck’s Friends with Benefits, pulled in $6.8m. Starring Justin Timberlake and Mila Kunis, Friends with Benefits opened slightly behind the $7.3m earned by the similarly themed No Strings Attached. A January release, No Strings Attached starred Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Jason Bateman, Colin Farrell, and Kevin Spacey, Horrible Bosses brought in $3.68m at no. 4. The R-rated comedy remained slightly ahead of Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which collected $3.51m at no. 5. Horrible Bosses and Transformers 3 may end up switching places before the weekend is over.
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (replacing Megan Fox), and Josh Duhamel, Transformers 3 is currently the biggest 2011 domestic release. Within ten-to-fifteen days or so, that will change as Deathly Hallows: Part 2 will surely become the year’s biggest domestic blockbuster.
At no. 6, Kevin James‘ Zookeeper added $2.85m. Next in line were John Lasseter’s Pixar/Disney release Cars 2 with $1.7m at no. 7 and Disney’s Winnie the Pooh with $1.6m at no. 8.
Rounding out the top twelve were Cameron Diaz-Justin Timberlake-Jason Segel’s Bad Teacher with $825k, Woody Allen-Owen Wilson’s Midnight in Paris with $525k, Paul Feig-Kristen Wiig’s Bridesmaids with $411k, Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts‘ Larry Crowne with $326k.
Gone from the top twelve were J. J. Abrams‘ Super 8 and Selena Gomez’s Monte Carlo.
Among the top-twelve movies on the North American chart, Captain America: The First Avenger scored the highest per-theater average, a 3D-assisted $6,931. Larry Crowne had the lowest, $315.
Also among the top twelve (barring newcomers Captain America: The First Avenger and Friends with Benefits), Midnight in Paris posted the biggest Thursday-to-Friday attendance increase, +59%. Following the loss of 1,250 locations, Larry Crowne was the only movie to be down, -18%.
Photo: Paramount / Marvel