Will ‘Thunderbolts’ Bring Box Office Thunder? Marvel’s Antihero Team Aims for $75 Million Opening Weekend

Can ‘Thunderbolts’ Strike Gold at the Box Office?

Disney’s latest Marvel superhero flick, ‘Thunderbolts,’ is aiming for a solid opening weekend, with projections of $70 million to $75 million in ticket sales. This comes after a couple of box office hits, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ and ‘Sinners,’ and could give movie theaters a much-needed boost.

Globally, ‘Thunderbolts’ is expected to make a splash with $160 million to $175 million. While these numbers are impressive, they fall a bit short of recent Marvel releases. For example, ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ opened strong with $88 million domestically and $192.4 million globally.

A Look at Recent Marvel Releases

Only a handful of Marvel movies since the pandemic have opened below $100 million, including ‘Eternals,’ ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings,’ and ‘The Marvels.’ On the other hand, big hitters like ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,’ and ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’ have all enjoyed massive opening weekends.

Interestingly, ‘Thunderbolts’ reportedly cost slightly less to produce and market than other recent Marvel films, coming in at around $180 million to produce and $100 million for marketing. However, it will need to stay in theaters longer than ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ to make back its investment. ‘Brave New World’ faced a similar challenge, with its ticket sales dropping quickly after the initial weekend.

Hopeful for the Future of Comic Book Movies

‘Thunderbolts’ aims to revitalize the comic book movie genre, which has seen some recent struggles at the box office. This summer, Marvel will release ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’ in July, while Warner Bros. and DC will bring ‘Superman’ to theaters the month before.

The film features a star-studded cast of antiheroes, including Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, and David Harbour as Red Guardian. The good news is that most of the cast is expected to return for 2026’s ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ which could generate even more excitement for ‘Thunderbolts’.

Despite the competition, ‘Thunderbolts’ is expected to dominate the box office charts this weekend. However, ‘Sinners’ is projected to continue its strong performance, potentially making $35 million in its third weekend of release.