'Civil War' Dominates Box Office, Sends Clear Message
"Civil War" dominated the weekend box office, and that's great news for fans of original content.
It's become incredibly easy to mock Hollywood over the fact every single movie that does well seems to be a superhero film, a movie from a well-established universe or a reboot.
Original ideas are about as rare as a unicorn sighting, but the success of "Civil War" might be a sign the tide is turning in a positive direction.
"Civil War" wins the weekend box office.
The brutally violent and borderline disturbing at times film from Alex Garland tell the story of a civil war tearing apart America from the ground level perspective. I saw it Friday, and loved it. It did an amazing job of just focusing on the carnage and being ambiguous about which political side is in the White House.
Turns out that many people went to theaters around this weekend to check out the movie with Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons.
"Civil War" was at the top of the weekend box office with $25.7 million in earnings. Second place was "Godzilla x King: The New Empire" with $15.5 million, and no other movie broke the $6 million mark.
To put it as simply as possible, "Civil War" crushed the competition.
The success of "Civil War" should be applauded. It's a sign that original writing and original content can win. Instead of just re-tooling old content, Garland and A24 brought viewers a unique storyline, and fans responded by showing up in big numbers.
As I stated above, the movie is also intentionally ambiguous so that viewers can't claim either side is the good or bad side. Below are the only hints in the movie as to what's going on or anything involving politics:
- The sitting President stays for an unconstitutional third term.
- There is massive inflation destroying America.
- Sitting President eliminates the FBI.
- The southern states and many western states are against the unconstitutional sitting government.
- More liberal states are with the corrupt federal government.
- There's a reference made to ANTIFA and a massacre. It's not clear if ANTIFA carried out the massacre or was the victim.
- A scene where a guy murders a foreigner based on his birthplace.
The movie really just focuses on the carnage on the ground, and shines a light on how brutal combat can be in its worst moments. The sound of the movie is also nothing short of incredible. The crack of the rifles indoors is incredibly realistic.
"Civil War" is a very entertaining movie. (Credit: A24)
Hopefully, the success of "Civil War" at the box office signals to writers and studios that people are craving unique and original stories. Give viewers that and they'll respond by opening up their wallets. It's not that hard to figure out. Let me know your thoughts on the movie at David.Hookstead@outkick.com.