Wonder Woman opened in theaters on the weekend and debuted at historic $103.3 million at the North American box office, marking it as the top opening ever for a female director (Patty Jenkins).
The superhero movie, starring Gal Gadot in the titular role, became only the 15th superhero title to launch to $100 million or more in the United States, not adjusting for inflation. It’s great news for the movie, considering it isn’t a sequel.
The movie gathered a mostly female audience (52 percent), an unusual percentage, as most superhero movies rely on 60 percent or more of the audience being male. Wonder Woman is the first movie featuring a female heroine to work at the box office after the failure of both Catwoman and Elektra in the mid-2000s.
Wonder Woman stands at No. 16 of most-grossing superhero films in the U.S.
The list of top domestic superhero openings is mostly dominated by movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well from titles from the relatively new DC Extended Universe, Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed Dark Knight trilogy, Sony’s Spider-Man series and Fox’s Deadpool.
Marvel’s The Avengers (2012) holds the record for top domestic opening with $207.4 million, followed by the sequel Avengers: Age of Ultron with $191.3 million. Marvel’s threequel Captain America: Civil War (2016) debuted at $179.1 million in 2016, while Iron Man 3 (2013) opened to $174 million. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) holds the fifth place with a domestic debut of $166 million.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises (2012) opened to $160.9 million, while The Dark Knight (2008) debuted at $158.4 million in North America. Sony’s Spider-Man 3 opened to $151.1 million in 2007.
Just last month, Marvel earned another spot on the list, with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 9 landing in the ninth place of all time superhero starts when starting the summer season with a domestic debut of $146.5 million.
The Tenth place goes to DC’s Suicide Squad (2016) with $133.7 million, followed by Fox’s Deadpool (2016), which opened to $132.4 million, and Marvel’s Iron Man 2 (2010) with $128.1 million.
Sony’s Spider-Man (2002), which is believed to have casted the mold for the modern-day superhero blockbuster- stands at No. 14 on the list with a domestic debut of $114.8 million, not accounting for inflation. Fox’s X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) rounds out the top 15 superhero movies with a debut of $102.8 million.
That means Wonder Woman stands at No. 16 on the list, beating out the first two Thor and Captain America movies, along with the first Iron Man, which opened to $98.6 million.
Wonder Woman will come back to the screens in November, in Justice League
According to The Hollywood Reporter, some box-office observers noted that Wonder Woman is far more well known than Iron Man or Captain America. In the comic-book world, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are considered DC’s Trinity. The heroine is also famous from the classic 1970s show Wonder Woman starring Lynda Carter, which raised her pop culture profile.
The movie opens as World War I pilot Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) and his plane crash on Themyscira, the island of the Amazons, where Princess Diana (Gal Gadot) lives and where she’s been trained by her aunt, the great warrior Antiope (Robin Wright). Diana leaves Themyscira to try and stop the war, marking the beginning of her transformation into the superhero known as Wonder Woman.
“Patty’s vision mesmerized the audience. She is a real talent. Clearly, this is a movie that is resonating with moviegoers around the globe,” said Warner Bros’ domestic distribution president Jeff Goldstein, according to The Hollywood Reporter. “I am sure we will be seeing a lot more of Diana on the big screen.”
Source: The Hollywood Reporter