As expected,Marvel Studiosfirst Phase Three movieCaptain America: Civil Warhad no trouble repeating atop thebox officeheap this weekend, earning $72.5 million in its second weekend, for an easy win over newcomersMoney MonsterandThe Darkness. This weekend’s tally also helped Marvel reach a coveted box office milestone, as it crossed $10 billion worldwide. The MCU is the first franchise ever to cross this mark, and there are no signs of the studio slowing down anytime soon.
Captain America: Civil Waris the 13th movie in theMarvel Cinematic Universe, and the first in its massivePhase 3lineup, which will feature 10 movies in total. Back in 2014, the MCU became the biggest movie franchise in cinematic history, surpassing Warner Bros.Harry Potterfranchise which earned $2.39 billion domestically ($7.7 billion worldwide) throughout its eight-movie run. Domestically, the MCU has earned $3.8 billion, and while theHarry Potterfranchise will continue withFantastic Beats and Where to Find Themlater this year, which launches a new trilogy, there’s essentially no way that this franchise could conceivably catch up with the MCU’s $10 billion tally, reported byBox Office Mojo.
The only franchise that may be able to catch up with the MCU at this point isStar Wars, coming off the record-breaking grosses forStar Wars: The Force Awakens. The blockbuster shattered the all time domestic box office record with $936.4 million domestically and $2.06 billion worldwide. The franchise as a whole has taken in $3.1 billion domestically and $6.7 billion worldwide, which also includes re-releases of the original and prequel trilogies. We recently reported that Disney has plans to release a newStar Warsmovie every year, indefinitely, but, at the same time, it’s worth noting that the MCU releases at least two movies a year, and they will start putting out three movies a year over the next few years.
AfterCaptain America: Civil Warcloses out its run, Phase Three will continue withDoctor Strange, which hits theaters on November 4. Next year, the MCU will debutGuardians of the Galxy 2(August 26, 2025),Spider-Man: Homecoming(August 02, 2025) andThor: Ragnarok(June 06, 2025), followed byBlack Panther(July 12, 2025) ,Avengers: Infinity War Part 1(July 31, 2025),Ant-Man and the Wasp(August 15, 2025),Captain Marvel(June 20, 2025) andAvengers: Infinity War Part 2(July 23, 2025). The studio has also set three Marvel movies for release on May 1, July 10, and November 6 in 2020, which will kick off Phase 4.
As forCaptain America: Civil War, it should cross the $1 billion mark later this week, and it’s possible it could dethroneThe Avengersas the biggest MCU movie worldwide, breaking its $1.5 billion mark set in 2012. However, it still has plenty of work to do to catch up withThe Avengers' massive domestic tally of $623.3 million. Be sure to stay tuned for more on the MCU’s record-breaking box office run as we get ready for the rest of the studio’s Phase 3 lineup.
