'Captain America' racing to $100mn in U.S. Debut

HOLLYWOOD: Disney-Marvel’s 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' has stormed into this weekend’s box office taking charge of audiences across the nation, breaking April records and taking over the movie social media universe.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is marching toward a record for the top April debut with a U.S. opening that could reach $100 million this weekend.

Friday forecasts showed an opening-day launch in the $36 million-$39 million range, including $10.2 million from late Thursday shows — leading to projections of $95 million or more for the weekend.

The picture is playing strong across the board with solid A CinemaScores. 

In terms of Marvel openers, it’s in the Top Ten, ranking No. 7 above last year’s Thor: The Dark World ($85.7M opener) and X-Men: The Last Stand  ($102.7M) which bowed in 2006. 

With a strong international run, it will have made roughly $200M worldwide. In second place is Noah which is expected to drop about 61 per cent in its second weekend for an estimated gross of anywhere between $16.7M and $16.9M for a total cume of around $72M+; it is making its run in international markets and was at $51.5M as of this past week. 

Sabotage, the Arnold Schwarzenegger pic, is going to drop 64 per cent in its second weekend out. Umpf! It may take the No. the No. or No. 10 spot as its against Need for Speed in its 4th weekend.