2025 has not been the strongest of starts for the box office either domestically, in North America, or overseas. The most noteworthy example is Captain America: Brave New World, an MCU movie that's currently limping its way to $400 million worldwide.
This weekend, it added $5.5 million in the U.S. ($185.4 million total) and $6 million internationally ($203.2 million total) for a global cume of $388.6 million.
At this rate, it will just about manage to cross $400 million worldwide by the end of its run. While it's good that The Falcon and The Winter Soldier follow-up has topped disasters like The Marvels ($207 million) and The Incredible Hulk ($264 million), it's still set to land in "disappointment" territory alongside Eternals ($402 million) and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ($476 million).
There are those quick to blame "superhero fatigue" but it's not just Marvel Studios struggling to convince moviegoers to buy a theater ticket.
This weekend, the Jack Quaid-led Novocaine made only $10.5 million worldwide. On the plus side, it cost only $18 million to produce, but Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag was another let-down with a $11.7 million global debut (it stars Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett, and racked up a $50 million budget).
Mickey 17 remains at #1 with a current worldwide total of $90.5 million. Despite that, it's still considered a failure and will likely never make a profit, even with a surprisingly modest $118 million budget. Not helping matters is the fact Warner Bros. plans to release the movie on Digital platforms as soon as next week.
Proving that studios are struggling to release anything that strikes a chord with moviegoers, even Paddington in Peru has underperformed with $183.7 million worldwide compared to Paddington's $326 million and Paddington 2's $290 million.
Now, all eyes are on summer titles like Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning, Jurassic World Rebirth, Lilo & Stitch, Superman, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps to turn things around.
The majority of studios have inadvertently trained people to just wait for movies to hit streaming or Digital so they can watch from the comfort of home.
Theater ticket prices also aren't cheap at a time when everything is more expensive than it used to be and while $40 popcorn buckets are a draw for hardcore fans, neither studios nor exhibitors seem to be doing enough to get people through the door.
"Flawed but functional, Captain America: Brave New World's many problems are largely forgotten any time Anthony Mackie and Harrison Ford electrify the screen," we said in our review. "And when Red Hulk shows up, the movie reaches new heights of awesome."
Captain America: Brave New World is now playing in theaters.