"Captain America: Brave New World" is rapidly approaching the $300 million mark at the global box office, yet a significant 68% drop in domestic earnings during its second weekend could hinder the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film from reaching its break-even point. According to Deadline, the movie had a production budget of $180 million and needs to gross around $425 million to break even.
Over the Presidents Day weekend, the Anthony Mackie-led action flick surpassed expectations by pulling in $100 million domestically. However, its second weekend saw a steep decline, earning just $28.2 million domestically. This drop mirrors the performance of 2023's "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," which also struggled to break even.
According to Comscore, "Captain America: Brave New World" has now amassed an estimated $289.4 million worldwide, with $141.2 million coming from domestic markets and $148.2 million from international ones after only two weekends. The film's global earnings for the second weekend totaled $63.5 million.
Despite being the biggest release of 2025 so far, the film's sharp second-weekend decline is concerning, especially with no major competing blockbusters on the horizon. Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst at Comscore, commented to Variety, "This is the new normal for Marvel movies. There’s still no denying these movies have appeal. But a second weekend drop of 68% reflects less audience enthusiasm than you’d expect from Marvel."
Deadline predicts that "Captain America: Brave New World" will ultimately reach about $450 million globally. The film launched with lukewarm reviews; IGN’s review of Captain America: Brave New World gave it a 5/10, stating, "Captain America: Brave New World feels neither brave, nor all that new, falling short of strong performances from Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, and Carl Lumbly."
Marvel Studios and its parent company, Disney, are banking on the film to regain momentum and reverse the negative trend affecting recent MCU releases (with the exception of last year's highly successful Deadpool & Wolverine). The hope is to build excitement leading into upcoming releases like Thunderbolts* in May and The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July.
