Thunderbolts* (New Avengers?) Successfully Avoids A Bad Marvel Box Office Trend From Recent Years As Sinners Crosses A Milestone

This weekend always looked like it was going to be a two horse race. The major studios have learned not to put out high profile titles in the wake of a Marvel movie – hence why Eli Craig’s Clown In A Cornfield, Joe Carnahan’s Shadow Force, and James Madigan’s Fight Or Flight were Friday’s big new arrivals – and that set the box office up for another big showdown between Jake Schreier’s Thunderbolts* and Ryan Coogler‘s Sinners. In the aftermath, the former was able to beat the latter for first place, but both can be called winners.

The new Top 10 for the weekend box office has seen the latest arrival from Marvel Studios stay #1, but its performance wasn’t the only standout development. Check out the full chart below and join me after for analysis.

Thunderbolts* Has A Relatively Soft Weekend-To-Weekend Drop As It Holds On To First Place

As I’ve previously highlighted in this box office column, the big problem for Marvel Studios in recent years has concerned audience retention after opening weekend. The comic book blockbusters have consistently debuted in first place over the last decade-plus, but a significant number of titles have experienced significant second weekend drops. We saw the most recent example of this unfold just a couple of months ago, as Julius Onah’s Captain America: Brave New World saw its domestic ticket sales sink a rough 68 percent.

With Thunderbolts*, however, there has been hope that it would be a title that could avoid the negative trend. Part of the problem with Marvel titles in the last few years has been lacking buzz, and the most recent MCU film has not only gotten good word of mouth from both critics and audiences, but there is also the big secret title reveal to consider (I’m still not sure if I’m supposed to call it New Avengers or not, but that’s a secondary issue).

So what happened? As you can see in the chart above (with data via The Numbers), Thunderbolts* made $33.1 million in its second Friday-to-Sunday, which calculates to a 55 percent weekend-to-weekend drop. It’s not a brain-bending result like what we saw from Sinners a couple weeks ago (I’m still trying to wrap my mind around that six percent dip), but it’s definitely a positive development within the context of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Going back to the start of what has been dubbed The Multiverse Saga, which launched with Cate Shortland’s Black Widow in 2021, only Destin Daniel Cretton’s Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings, James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and Shawn Levy’s Deadpool & Wolverine had smaller second weekend dips than what we have seen from Thunderbolts*. That’s a nice feather in its cap.

The dropoff numbers are strong, and it puts the blockbuster in a good position going forward, but what has to be remembered in this case is that Thunderbolts* had what is on paper as the seventh weakest opening weekend in the MCU, and it’s a film that was made with a budget of $180 million (not counting publicity and marketing costs). It remains the case that the only in-canon title it has outgrossed domestically is Nia Da Costa’s The Marvels ($128.5 million versus $84.5 million). It will certainly climb up the rankings, but not to be ignored is that this weekend saw it up against as light as competition is going to be in the weeks ahead.

Looking beyond the United States and Canada, the movie has made $143.7 million from foreign territories, which brings its worldwide ticket sales to date up to $272.2 million. It will be an interesting title to watch in the weeks ahead as it does battle with other big IP titles on the global stage and comic book movie fans get themselves amped up for the big superhero action coming in July with James Gunn’s Superman and Matt Shakman’s Fantastic Four: First Steps.

Sinners Continues To Be A Powerhouse As It Crosses $200 Million Domestically

There was never any real question that Thunderbolts* would take the top spot at the box office in the first two weekends in May, as that’s just typical Marvel movie behavior. But in the shadow of that, it’s been remarkable to see Sinners retain its audience and continue putting up big numbers at the box office.

The ticket sales for the Michael B. Jordan-led vampire continue to only dip very slowly, as this week’s $21.1 million is just a 36 percent drop from the $33.1 million reported last Sunday. That total also means that it has moved past a significant milestone, as the original crime/horror movie has now made over $200 million domestically.

In the United States and Canada, only Jared Hess’ A Minecraft Movie (more on that title in a bit) has grossed more in 2025, as Sinners has now officially outgrossed Captain America: Brave New World. It’s a win entirely built on fantastic buzz, the impressive star power of Michael B. Jordan, and the established and appreciated talents of Ryan Coogler. It’s an awesome thing to see in this era of Hollywood.

The film hasn’t performed nearly as well in foreign markets, as it has only made $58.9 million to date, but that still has the title sitting with an impressive $283.3 million sitting in the bank. Worldwide, it’s the fifth biggest movie of the year, having successfully made more than Marc Webb‘s Snow White (which has made $202.8 million to date).

A Minecraft Movie Crosses $900 Million Worldwide… But Will It Get To A Billion?

Beyond the big two titles in the Top 10 this week, I’ll also highlight another milestone crossing, as A Minecraft Movie has now successfully crossed $900 million worldwide (it’s at $909.6 million to be specific). Unlike the other two films discussed above, the video game adaptation starring Jack Black and Jason Momoa has been critic-proof, as audiences – particularly young people – are loving it. The feature provided a terrific boost to the domestic box office when it arrived in April, and it continues to perform well.

How will things at the box office next weekend with the long-anticipated arrival of Zach Lipovsky and Adam Stein’s Final Destination: Bloodlines? Be sure to come back here to CinemaBlend next Sunday to check out the numbers, and for a look ahead at everything that is on the way to theaters in the coming months, check out our 2025 Movie Release Calendar.