CAPTAIN AMERICA: BRAVE NEW WORLD Hits $400 Million, But Why Hasn't It Done Better?

Sam Wilson's first movie as the MCU's Cap has passed the four hundred million dollar threshold, but why hasn't the movie done better?

Editorial Opinion

By ChandlerMcniel - Mar 24, 2025 09:03 AM EST

Filed Under: Captain America: Brave New World

Captain America: Brave New World has been slowly bringing in the green for Marvel and Disney. Emphasis on slowly. It had a solid opening weekend haul of nearly 200 million, but has just barely been able to match its first weekend in total sales afterwards. After this weekend, the fourth film in the Captain America franchise and the first to feature Sam Wilson as Cap, has reached 400 million at the box office.

It's been reported that Brave New World needs to make 425 million at the box office to break even and not cost Marvel money. If it ends up hitting that 425 million benchmark, it will be very close. As it's been in theaters for nearly a month and a half, it's expected to leave theaters entirely soon. Showtime availability is already becoming quite limited, so there's a good chance it won't break even.

Captain America: Brave New World sits at a rotten 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, but has a much better audience score of 79%. Every day moviegoers clearly like this one much more than critics.

If Captain America: Brave New World ends it's box office run by achieving the high end of what it's projected to earn, 440 million, it will just barely break even. By those standards, it would not be considered a “flop”, but, by modern Marvel standards, calling it that would be justifiable. If Brave New World hits 440 million It will beat out The Marvels (206 million), The Incredible Hulk (264 million), Captain America: The First Avenger (370 million), Black Widow (379 million), Eternals (402 million), and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (432 million). That would make it the seventh lowest grossing MCU movie and the second lowest grossing Captain America movie.

So, why hasn't Captain America: Brave New World done better?

Poor Reviews

The reviews for Captain America: Brave New World haven't been great. As I said above, the movie has a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, making it one of the lower rated MCU movies. Simply put, when a movie gets bad reviews, a lot of the people that weren’t sure about seeing it make up their mind. With the audience score sitting at 79%, it seems like the people that wanted to see the movie, saw it. The MCU has plenty of loyal fans that will see a movie set in the MCU no matter how poor the reviews are, but even more rely on those reviews to help them decide whether or not to see a movie. Unfortunately for Brave New World, the reviews haven't helped.

Controversy Surrounding Mackie

Anthony Mackie has had a few controversies come his way as Captain America: Brave New World has been in theaters. There were his now infamous remarks stating “Captain America represents a lot of things, dontI don't think the term America should be one of those representations.” Although, he later cleared this up, stating that he is a patriot. He also recently went on The Pivot podcast to speak about raising sons where he made quite a few comments that were seen by some as controversial including the declaration that masculinity is dead. Whether or not these comments have helped, hurt, or made no impact on the box office result at all is open to interpretation, but it is possible.

Sam Wilson As Cap

Even in comics, Sam Wilson taking the mantle of Captain America rubs some people the wrong way. Unfortunately, that's frequently for the wrong reason. There are plenty of comic readers that don't want to see Captain America be a black man, but there are also comic readers that just aren’t as interested in his character as they are Steve Rogers’. Both of these opinions will naturally translate over to the big screen and potentially affect the movie's financial performance.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Without a doubt, there are people that did not watch The Falcon and the Winter soldier. While the show did great on Disney+ with literally millions of people watching it, there are definitely still those that didn't. More successful MCU movies don't just sell a few million tickets; they sell hundreds of millions of tickets. If a couple million people watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, maybe Disney can't expect hundreds of millions of people to buy tickets to what is essentially its sequel. As the MCU branches out into streaming, and their movies rely on people watching those series, the series performances will definitely affect the viewership of movies that come afterwards. Interestingly, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier had solid reviews from both critics and audiences a bit over 80% each. However, while most people like the show, it's possible that not enough people watched it to justify buying a ticket. Combine this with the rising overall uninterest in the MCU, and you have a recipe for a lower box office haul.

What did you think of Captain America: Brave New World? Let us know in the comments!

Marvel’s Missed Opportunity: The Rise and Stall of Sam Wilson

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109 Comments

1 2 3

vectorsigma - 3/24/2025, 9:51 AM

Because it was ignored in Chine because of Ne Zha 2

CreateNowSlpL8r - 3/24/2025, 10:09 AM

@vectorsigma - Dude, we get it. You REALLY like that movie. :)

Thats not the reason though.

vectorsigma - 3/24/2025, 10:12 AM

@CreateNowSlpL8r - just so you guys wont forget 😉

CreateNowSlpL8r - 3/24/2025, 10:37 AM

@vectorsigma - HaHa

TheyDont - 3/24/2025, 9:51 AM

It just was a bad movie that used Cap instead of Hulk for some reason.

HagridsHole1 - 3/24/2025, 9:52 AM

It didn't do better because it's not very good.

The end.

BrainySleep - 3/24/2025, 9:52 AM

Because it was just meh. Very little rewatchability which is a shame as there's a good movie in there.

TGDestroyer - 3/24/2025, 9:56 AM

@BrainySleep - I think the bar is so high now it just felt mid, and it was. It felt like another placeholder film to get to the next more anticipated project.

OptimusCrime - 3/24/2025, 9:55 AM

Because not enough people care about Falcon.

TheNewYorker - 3/24/2025, 10:04 AM

@OptimusCrime - Easily the simplest, and best comment.

EskimoJ - 3/24/2025, 9:56 AM

Because.

DocSpock - 3/24/2025, 10:01 AM

F&WS sucked. This movie was just not that good. No one is going to see it twice. And the problem isn't that Mackie is black. It's just that he doesn't have blockbuster leading man acting skills.

Stop looking for deeper reasons. The movie was not compelling. The only way to fix this is to make a better movie. That's all.

ObserverIO - 3/24/2025, 1:45 PM

@DocSpock - Joseph Gordon Levitt isn't black either but if they followed The Dark Knight Rises with a John Blake Batman movie it still would have flopped just as hard as BNW.

Batman is Bruce Wayne.
Cap is Steve Rogers.

DocSpock - 3/24/2025, 5:41 PM

@ObserverIO -

Yep.

slickrickdesigns - 3/24/2025, 10:04 AM

I believe the movie could’ve been better but it was good. I actually think it would’ve done better performance wise if it wasn’t released during a time of so much divide in politics and divide in fans/toxic fans opinions of the CBM genre.
Just saying the movie is on pair with a lot of CBM’s that weren’t bad but weren’t great and by comparison to the Russo/Evans films it doesn’t compare as it feels like a copy and pasted type edited film.

Wahhvacado - 3/24/2025, 10:04 AM

It was very mid. Cast was good and the action was a lot of fun but the rest was a mess

JustAWaffle - 3/24/2025, 10:06 AM

While it was middle tier at best, it was a choppy mess at worst. Plus it just wasn’t very interesting of a film. Some have said Mackie can’t carry a movie as the lead, and while I’m not convinced (a good script could solve that), I think his inexperience played a roll as well. He just didn’t have the commanding presence necessary.

vectorsigma - 3/24/2025, 10:08 AM

The "because it was bad" reasoning confuses me.

D&W was waaaaay worse.

Scarilian - 3/24/2025, 10:32 AM

@vectorsigma -
Nostalgia generally acts as a veil for terrible films. So a bad film such as D&W will generally get more viewership than CA:BNW even if both were the same quality of bad.

With that said, I find the general decline of the MCU means that we are getting progressively worse, generally finding ways to outdo themselves in different types of failures.

vectorsigma - 3/24/2025, 11:01 AM

@Scarilian - ive come to a point where im immune to those nostalgia baits already. But i agree it is the reason d&w was a success but i hope to god people will wake up and not consume the same slop all over again (which i think will be repeated in the next avengers movies)

Scarilian - 3/24/2025, 1:42 PM

@vectorsigma -
It's 50/50 at this point as to if it works for the Avengers films, people are starting to wise up to it.

The brand damage and consecutive string of bad writing at this point may be strong enough to impact it, but admittedly the 'Avengers' as a brand may have survived some of the stink since Endgame.

Avengers: Doomsday will likely have a $400m+ budget, meaning a $1bn+ break-even - so anything less than $1.5bn would be a disappointment for them as the 2nd lowest Avengers movie, less than $1.4bn and it's the lowest grossing Avengers movie which would send them into a panic.

I imagine they'd want these films to replicate the success of Infinity War and Endgame financially, so around $2bn and $2.8bn respectively - but I don't think the audience or hype is there anymore. Though I'm sure they'll throw in all the nostalgic cameos as bait and likely kill off legacy characters for viewership such as Tobey Maguire's Spider-man.

thomashilfiger - 3/24/2025, 10:08 AM

"Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (432 million)"

this one particularly hurts because I remember the movie being really good and fun, had a pretty high RT score, excellent special effects, etc. I guess it was hit by the slow return to theatres during Covid, but still. I think I'm gonna take some time this week to rewatch it, as a treat.

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 10:10 AM

I understand why movies are rated according to box office runs but consider this: MONEY.

My local Regal; $16.50, 1 Adult ticket. Add Popcorn, Drink at another $20 (if not more). Your movie "experience" is now over $35. This is why movie theaters are failing and it makes the movies appear bad when they may not be.

We cannot judge a movie based on box office run during a high inflationary period.
That being said, I enjoyed this movie. I paid the price to go see it which is rare. I thought it was one of the better that Marvel has put out over the past 5 years. Others did not enjoy the movie.

Opinions aside, you cannot argue the fact that the majority of people that WOULD go see this can AFFORD to right now.

CreateNowSlpL8r - 3/24/2025, 10:16 AM

@AgentofSH1ELD - This is a good point but I dont buy it. People are stupid and all carry 1k phones. They showed up for both Deadpool and Inside Out 2. Avatar in December will somehow cross 1B too.

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 10:24 AM

@CreateNowSlpL8r - But those were high end, very sought after movies. Families, individuals will jump out for tent pole films but not for every film. This particular Marvel movie wasnt the spectacle a Marvel movie was 10 years ago when tickets were $12

Scarilian - 3/24/2025, 10:40 AM

@AgentofSH1ELD -
"We cannot judge a movie based on box office run during a high inflationary period."

Higher prices mean you can achieve a higher box office with less audience in attendance.

"This particular Marvel movie wasnt the spectacle a Marvel movie was 10 years ago "

Yes, because like every other Marvel Movie in Phase 4/5 it was absolute garbage in regards to writing and not something the audience was asking for.

CreateNowSlpL8r - 3/24/2025, 10:42 AM

@AgentofSH1ELD - Sure but is it money or the product. Captain America was a spectacle after Winter Soldier. I get that it was some time ago but this was supposed to be a spectacle. It's a sequel to a 1B movie. Inside Out 2 is an animation.

Even if we give this Guardians 3 money it would have been a success. A movie failing this hard points to a much larger problem.

vegetaray - 3/24/2025, 10:42 AM

@AgentofSH1ELD - So what you’re saying is…It wasn’t good enough? I get it, everyone wants to find THE reason this thing was a failure.

But…

There was ten movies, that released in the last year or so, that made more than Brave New World…Four of which made a billion, or very nearly a billion. Those movies covered just about every genre there is, including comic book movies. Use whatever metric you like to get you there, but the end result is going to be the same…The movie just wasn’t good.

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 11:01 AM

@Scarilian - "Higher prices mean you can..." really? People are not going to the movies. No, you cannot achieve a higher box office with higher prices if people arnt going. thats ridiculous thought train.

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 11:02 AM

@CreateNowSlpL8r - Captain America movies have never been a box office draw comparable to Guardians of the Galaxy. no contest.

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 11:04 AM

@vegetaray - It wasnt good enough to make people want to spend the money. Yes.
Either way, overall box office numbers are down and lower than they were pre covid.
Just look at AMC stock over the last 6 years. That includes a reverse split too.
But as I said above, Captain America movies have never been the draw that other properties are.

CreateNowSlpL8r - 3/24/2025, 11:52 AM

@AgentofSH1ELD - You sure? I'll give you the first entry but I dont think that translates since Guardians 1 was in Phase 2. The 2nd installments are pretty close and CW smokes Guardians 3. Sure we can say CW was an ensemble but Guardians 3 was the end of a trilogy.

Captain America Films:

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Worldwide Gross: $370.6 million

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Worldwide Gross: $714.4 million

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Worldwide Gross: $1.153 billion

Guardians of the Galaxy Films:

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Worldwide Gross: $773.3 million

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)

Worldwide Gross: $863.8 million

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

Worldwide Gross: $845.6 million

Total Gross:

Total for Captain America trilogy: Approximately $2.238 billion

Total for Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy: Approximately $2.482 billion

bobevanz - 3/24/2025, 12:30 PM

@AgentofSH1ELD - I have AMC A-List and I get three movies a week in any format for the price of 1.5 tickets and tons of rewards per dollar from concessions A MONTH. Cinemark gives me one movie ticket a month and 20% off concessions. This argument is dumb af. People like us know these movies are coming months away as well. Save a dollar a month lmao. Also movie theaters make money on concessions because the studios take more than 50% per ticket

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 12:56 PM

@CreateNowSlpL8r - haha thanks. Thats good. We might be the same person. I looked it all up after post. Its very close yes. Now do all films pre Covid and post covid. :P

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 12:57 PM

@bobevanz - Friend of mine has the equal in comparison Regal card. I get it. But average households do not. Average households make up ticket sales.

Scarilian - 3/24/2025, 1:59 PM

@AgentofSH1ELD -
"People are not going to the movies."

They are, but less of them are going and they are being more selective due to the mountain of terribly written slop that keeps being shoved onto screens either due to writers/studios not caring or because they wish to push messaging that opposes the average persons morals.

"No, you cannot achieve a higher box office with higher prices if people arnt going."

• Movie releases in 2015: ticket costs $12 then you need to sell 16.67 (17) tickets to make over $200.
• Movie releases in 2025: ticket costs $16.50 then you need to sell 12.12 (13) tickets to make over $200.

With the figures you have presented, a movie releasing today only needs 3/4 of the audience of a 2015 film to make the same amount of money.

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 2:09 PM

@Scarilian - you are kinda making my argument for me..

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 2:11 PM

@Scarilian - ahh i see where. my comment was not what I wanted it to be. The "no you cannt..." thats not what I wanted to say. lol sorry. mathing at work since 5am so im partly fried rn.
But my point was the top part about less people attending, same money so no reason so create better product. and as you put it "terribly written slop". But in the end, less people are attending which is partly why ticket prices have increased which also adds to less people attending. big bad circle.

AgentofSH1ELD - 3/24/2025, 2:14 PM

@Scarilian - but then again, 1 ticket at 16.50 vs 2 at 12.00. you make more on the 12 short term. but you would always have to bank on selling more tickets at a cheaper price than less tickets at a higher price long term. As you said it by a considerable percent.

Scarilian - 3/24/2025, 2:23 PM

@AgentofSH1ELD -
Ideally yeah, cinemas should lower prices to incentive people to return to the cinemas, use offers to encourage them to bring friends or others to get them hooked also. Though that as mentioned would require more tickets to be sold.

I think eventually cinemas will become more exclusive for a while, but they'll probably re-surge in interest because it works as an activity outside the home for miminal-talk dates or interactions with people.

"mathing at work since 5am so im partly fried rn."

Not sure what time it is by you, but get some sleep xD