A24‘s political thriller “Civil War” is resonating not just in red states and blue but overseas, too.
Alex Garland’s film, starring Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist who traverses a violently divided United States,has grossed $45.7 million in North America and $20 million internationally. Global ticket sales stand at $67.3 million through Monday, and it’s projected to cross $70 million on Tuesday.
“Civil War” is the first A24 movie to top the domestic box office, and it’s impressively remained the No. 1 film for two consecutive weekends. Given the fiercely U.S.-centric subject matter, it wasn’t clear the film would resonate at the international box office. But “Civil War” has managed to appeal to overseas audiences with the biggest turnout in the United Kingdom, where it has grossed $4.8 million, followed by the Netherlands, where it has grossed $750,000. Over the weekend, the film opened in first place in several smaller moviegoing markets, such as Brazil ($1.2 million), Spain ($573,659), Belgium ($205,253), Finland ($180,435) and Portugal ($126,129).
After two weeks of release, “Civil War” is already one of the indie studio’s highest-grossing films after the Daniels’ Oscar-winning “Everything Everywhere All at Once” ($143 million), Ari Aster’s “Hereditary” ($79 million) and Greta Gerwig’s “Lady Bird” ($78 million globally). That’s good because “Civil War” cost $50 million, so it’s A24’s most expensive movie to date. It’ll need outsized ticket sales to justify its price tag. The New York-based company presold rights to foreign markets, which helped the studio begin to recoup its investment before the movie even hit the big screen.
Popular on PvNew
“Civil War” is also the biggest film directed by Garland, the filmmaker of “Annihilation” ($43 million) and “Ex Machina” ($37 million). He wrote but didn’t direct the 2002 post-apocalyptic thriller “28 Days Later,” which grossed $84 million. “Civil War” co-stars Nick Offerman as the president of the United States, Wagner Moura and Jesse Plemons. It takes place in the near future as a new Civil War breaks out between the U.S. government and the so-called successionist “Western Forces” led by California and Texas.
