‘Thunderbolts*’ Stays No. 1 With $33 Million, ‘A Minecraft Movie’ Crosses $400 Million at Domestic Box Office

Marvel’s “Thunderbolts*” remained No. 1 at the box office, collecting $33.1 million in its second weekend of release.

Ticket sales declined by 55% from its $74 million debut, marking a far better hold than recent Marvel adventures that slid significantly in their second weekends, such as February’s “Captain America: Brave New World” (down 68% in its sophomore outing), 2023’s “Ant Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (down 70%), “The Marvels” (down a whopping 78%) and 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder” (down 67%).

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“Thunderbolts*” started softer than all of those tentpoles (except for “The Marvels”), but solid reviews and positive word-of-mouth could help the movie stick around on the big screen. After opening weekend, Disney tried to stoke interest in “Thunderbolts*” by unveiling the meaning behind the asterisk in the film’s title — the ragtag group at the helm will henceforth be known as “The New Avengers.” The studio also revealed the motley crew of antiheroes will make an appearance in 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday.” Disney hopes that piece of casting news will inspire audiences to want to get to know the Thunderbolts before next year’s epic superhero mashup.

So far, “Thunderbolts*” has generated $128.5 million in North America and $272 million globally. Since the film cost $180 million to produce and approximately $100 million to market, “Thunderbolts*” needs to outperform expectations to justify its hefty price tag.

Disney’s CEO Bob Iger praised “Thunderbolts*” earlier this week, calling the offbeat superhero adventure the “first and best” example of Marvel’s new movie strategy. That’s after the MCU had fielded the critical and commercial misfires of “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “The Marvels” and “Captain America: Brave New World.”

“We’ve learned over time that quantity does not necessarily beget quality,” Iger said during an investor call. “And frankly, we’ve all admitted to ourselves that we lost a little focus by making too much.”

That’s good news for theater owners because Disney has its third and final Marvel sequel of the year with “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” on July 25.

Meanwhile, “A Minecraft Movie” and “Sinners” cleared notable box office benchmarks, an indication of each film’s remarkable big screen endurance. As “Thunderbolts*” and those holdovers continue to dominate at the box office, three new releases had to mostly settle for scraps.

Low-budget horror slasher “Clown in a Cornfield” managed to crack the top five with $3.8 million from 2,277 theaters. It’s actually an impressive total for the film, which reportedly cost under $1 million to make. It’s the biggest opening weekend to date for IFC, surpassing the indie’s prior record holder, 2024’s “Late Night With the Devil,” which powered to $2.8 million to start. As the title suggests, “Clown in a Cornfield” centers on a masked killer named Frendo who deposits many of his victims in a quiet town’s cornfield. Given the gruesome terror that unfolds on screen, it’s not surprising that “Clown in a Cornfield” fielded a rough “C+” grade on CinemaScore exit polls.

“That kind of audience score is common for the genre,” says David A. Gross, who runs the movie consulting firm Franchise Entertainment Research. “This is a solid opening for an indie horror film, particularly for a micro-budget production like this.”

This weekend’s two other newcomers landed outside of the top five. Lionsgate’s action thriller “Shadow Force” and Vertical Entertainment’s airplane caper “Fight or Flight” are battling for the ignominious distinction of eighth place on box office charts. Each film is estimated to open to $2 million from roughly 2,100 theaters, with the final number to be reported on Monday.

Kerry Washington stars in “Shadow Force,” a poorly reviewed film about married ex-assassins on the run from former colleagues. Against a $40 million budget, “Shadow Force” is shaping up to be the first major bomb of the summer. Lionsgate typically covers approximately two-thirds of its production budget with international sales, which helps recoup theatrical losses for underperforming movies.

“Fight or Flight” features Josh Hartnett as a disgraced Secret Service agent who is recruited to identify and protect a wanted criminal aboard a commercial airline. Vertical acquired the film’s North America rights for single digits, so “Fight or Flight” has a much lower barrier to achieve profitability.

“‘Shadow Force’ will quickly move from theaters to streaming and try to recoup its production cost there,” says Gross. Of “Fight or Flight,” he adds, “This is a soft opening for an indie action thriller, a genre that struggles at the box office.”

In second place, “Sinners” remained strong with $21.1 million in its fourth frame, down just 36% from its prior outing. The vampire thriller continues to enjoy unprecedented holds at the domestic box office and, over the weekend, crossed a major milestone in the $200 million mark. Now, ticket sales for the R-rated film stand at $216 million domestically and $68 million overseas for a worldwide total of $283 million.

“A Minecraft Movie” remained at No. 3 with $8 million in its sixth weekend on the big screen. So far, the Warner Bros. video game adaptation has generated a mighty $409 million in North America and $909 million globally. As long as the movie sustains momentum during the busy summer season, “Minecraft” is primed to be the year’s first billion-dollar release.

Ben Affleck’s action thriller “The Accountant 2” stayed in fourth place with $6.09 million in its third frame, declining just 36% from the prior weekend. The Amazon MGM film has grossed $50.8 million domestically and $71 million worldwide. It’s an impressive total for the R-rated sequel, especially since the film is aimed at older audiences, but “The Accountant 2” carries a steep $80 million price tag. Since studios and theater owners split ticket sales, the movie may struggle to get out of the red in its theatrical run.

Overall, the box office is down 11% compared to the same weekend in 2024 when Disney’s “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” touched down with $58 million. After this weekend, though, domestic revenues are 15.8% ahead of 2024 while still 32.5% behind 2019, according to Comscore.

Summer movie season, which regularly accounts for 40% of the annual box office, heats up with Warner Bros. and New Line’s “Final Destination: Bloodlines” on May 16 and Disney’s “Lilo & Stitch” and Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” over the Memorial Day holiday.

This is a relatively quiet weekend,” says senior Comscore analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “But it’s looking like it’s going to be an epic month of May for movie theaters.”