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Box Office Report: ‘Wonder Woman’ Lassoes $103M Domestic Debut

Warner Bros. tentpole feature launches new franchise with $225.6 million global bow; DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie’ makes $23.5 million debut.

Director Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman took the World by storm this past weekend, taking in $103 million from 4,165 theaters in its domestic box-office debut, the biggest opening ever for a female director.

Overseas, Wonder Woman also won the weekend with $122.5 million from 55 markets for a global bow of $225.6 million, including a number-one $38 million debut in China, where it snagged the fourth-best opening of all time for a Warner Bros. title. The third-biggest launch for a DC Comics film, IMAX theaters accounted for $18.3 million in worldwide ticket sales, including $9 million domestically.

Made under a budget of $150 million, the movie stars Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. Wonder Woman is the 15th superhero film to cross $100 million in its domestic box-office launch, a list topped by Marvel’s The Avengers ($207 million), Avengers: Age of Ultron ($191.3 million), Captain America: Civil War ($179.1 million), Iron Man 3 ($174 million) and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice ($166 million). Wonder Woman beat out the openings of the first two Thor and Captain America movies, as well as the first Iron Man.

The weekend’s other new release, DreamWorks Animation’s Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, came in second place, earning $23.5 million from 3,434 theaters at the domestic box office for its debut.

Directed by David Soren and produced for a very modest $38 million (by comparison, the budget for this year’s The Boss Baby was $125), Captain Underpants is the final DreamWorks Animation feature to be distributed by 290th Century Fox following DWA’s sale to Comcast-owned NBCUniversal.

Based on the popular book series, Captain Underpants tells the tale of two fourth-graders (voiced by Kevin Hart and Thomas Middleditch) who hypnotize their middle school principal (Ed Helms) into thinking he’s Captain Underpants, a hero from a comic book. The voice cast also includes Nick Kroll as Professor Pippy P. Poopypants and Jordan Peele as a school snitch named Melvin Sneedly.

Among holdovers, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales came in third place for its sophomore weekend with $21.6 million for a new domestic total of $114.6 million. Overseas, fifth installment in the theme park attraction-themed film franchise has made $392.9 million for a total of $507.5 million globally.

Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 followed in fourth place, bringing in $9.7 million in its fifth weekend in theaters for a new domestic total of $355.5 million. The James Gunn directed sequel has now made a total of $461.9 million internationally for a new worldwide total of $817.4 million.

Now in its third week, 20th Century Fox’s Alien: Covenant came in sixth place at the domestic box office, bringing in $4 million for a new North American total of $67.2 million. Directed by Ridley Scott with a budget of $97 million, Alien: Covenant has made a total of $106.6 million overseas for a total of $173.8 million globally.

Warner Bros.’ King Arthur: Legend of the Sword rounded up the top ten this past weekend, taking in $1.2 million domestically for a new North American cume of $37.2 million. Produced for $175 million, Legend of the Sword has made a total of $93.1 million overseas for a new worldwide total of $130.3 million.

Box office numbers were obtained at BoxOfficePro.

Jennifer Wolfe's picture

Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.