MCU’s Thunderbolts* Amazing Opening Weekend at Global Box Office

MCU’s Thunderbolts* is off to a promising start. The new Marvel film surpassed $162 million at the global box office. If this keeps up, Thunderbolts* will be a highlight of the blockbuster season.

Disney’s budget for the project was rumored to be almost $280 million, including $180 million for production and an additional $100 million for promotion. 

Coming off two box office disasters, Snow White and the MCU’s latest adventure, Captain America: Brave New World, the company needed critical and financial success, and this time, they got it. 

thunderbolts got me mcu posting like it’s 2018 again man this is so serious pic.twitter.com/MIbIby52Lm

— zoë rose bryant (@zoerosebryant) May 2, 2025

Thunderbolts* follows a group of disgruntled societal outcasts who get a target on their backs and a dangerous mission ahead of them. Yelena Boleva (Florence Pugh), Red Guardian/Alexi Shotstakov (David Harbour), Winter Soldier/Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Ghost/Ava Starr (Hannah John-Kamen), John Walker (Wyatt Russel), Taskmaster/Antonia Dreykov (Olga Kurylenko), and Bob (Lewis Pullman) are all inadvertently brought together by the actions of Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The film’s success marks a good start to the summer blockbuster season. Domestically, the film made $76 million upon its debut and topped box office charts in China, the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Brazil. 

this scene almost had me standing up. i love heroes bro. pic.twitter.com/OFM8Bprel3

— Sab (@sabooschin) May 4, 2025

To put it in perspective, Captain America: Brave New World had a domestic opening of $88 million but garnered $400 million worldwide towards the end of its in-theater run.

Considering that this film is already nearing the $260 million milestone and is getting more positive word-of-mouth reviews than its predecessor, Thunderbolts* will likely surpass Captain America before the end of the month. 

With a great team of creatives behind them, many praise the film’s distinct production styles that make it stand out among the latest MCU big-screen projects. 

Director Jacob Schreier, known for the Netflix series Beef, teamed with screenwriters Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo for Thunderbolts*.

Advertising the cinematographer and composer is genuinely the coolest thing Marvel has done to promote a movie of theirs in a while. https://t.co/OrGYOxTr0r

— Dath (Carly Rae Jepsen Stan) (@GigatronusP) March 7, 2025

NPR reports that “director, Jake Shreier, and the screenwriters, Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, have come up with an unruly take on the superhero genre which makes it the most refreshing MCU offering in years.”

According to Box Office Mojo, Thunderbolts* has already entered the top ten worldwide box office releases for 2025. Above it are A Minecraft Movie, Captain America: Brave New World, Sinners, and Snow White. 

Thunderbolts* is in theaters now. Check out the trailer below.