“Civil War,” an A24 dystopian thriller, dominated the box office once more, holding the top spot on the North American charts while fending off three new movies.

The second weekend of the film’s release brought in an additional $11.12 million. Alex Garland stars Kirsten Dunst as a photojournalist who travels around a violently divided United States. It is currently among A24’s top five highest-grossing films of all time with $44.8 million in revenue to date. At a $50 million budget, it’s also the most costly movie released by an independent distributor to date.

“Civil War” blasted past three new releases that had mixed reviews upon their debuts: Universal’s vampire horror picture “Abigail,” Guy Ritchie’s “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” and Sony and Crunchyroll’s anime adventure “Spy x Family Code: White.”

“Abigail” has made between $12 and $15 million in its premiere as of this coming weekend. However, the bloody, R-rated thriller debuted marginally behind schedule, coming in second with $10.2 million from 3,384 theaters.

well-liked on Variety
The film received positive reviews from critics and viewers; it has an 83% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a “B” CinemaScore. (Considering the horror genre, those responses are rather strong.) “Abigail,” a film by “Scream VI” directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, is based on Universal’s iconic 1936 monster picture “Dracula’s Daughter.” It tells the story of kidnappers who kidnap a 12-year-old dancer and keep her for ransom; the girl turns out to be a homicidal vampire child. Despite not living up to initial expectations, “Abigail” should not have trouble making money during its theatrical run because it cost $28 million.

“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare,” from Lionsgate, debuted at No. 4 and made $9 million its first weekend of sales. The $60 million action comedy, which stars Henry Cavill, Henry Golding, and Eiza González, and fictionalizes the true story of a clandestine British military unit that gathered a small cadre of expert combatants to launch an attack against the Nazis, has an unimpressive outcome. It has a 73% Rotten Tomatoes rating and a “A-” CinemaScore.

The movie was exclusively acquired by Lionsgate for the United States; the rest of the globe will see it available on Amazon Prime. MGM’s “The Covenant,” which flamed out with $21 million global on its $55 million budget, and Lionsgate’s “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre,” which tapped out with $48 million against its $50 million budget.

“Spy × Family Code: White,” the weekend’s only new release, bombed in fifth place with $4.8 million from 2,009 North American cinemas. With a “A” CinemaScore and 96% on Rotten Tomatoes, the animated action-comedy won over fans (or the handful that came out on opening weekend).

The first movie based on Tatsuya Endo’s iconic manga TV series “Spy x Family,” “Spy × Family Code: White,” has already made $45.8 million at the international box office.

“Like most anime titles, ‘Spy x Family’ arrives having already done extremely well in Japan,” says David A. Gross of movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “Anime releases play quickly domestically, but make most of their money in Asia.”

“Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire” and “Kung Fu Panda 4,” two standby films, completed the top three box office rankings.

“Godzilla x Kong: A New Empire,” a monster mashup from Warner Bros. and Legendary, made $9.4 million during its fourth weekend of release, placing it ahead of “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” and in third place. As of right moment, it has brought in $171.6 million domestically and $485.2 million worldwide.

“Kung Fu Panda 4,” from Universal and DreamWorks Animation, came in at number six with $4.6 million. The family movie has brought in a staggering $480 million worldwide and $179 million in North America after seven weeks on the big screen.

With a total revenue of about $65 million, this weekend was among the lowest-grossing of 2024 at the American movie office. Revenues so far this year have fallen 20% short of the same period in 2023. Now, following a lackluster April for the cinema, proprietors are eagerly anticipating the release of “The Fall Guy,” an action comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, on May 3.