Disney
- "Captain Marvel" earned $20.7 million in Thursday preview screenings.
- That's the fifth-best preview show for a movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- The Disney release is projected to earn over $125 million this weekend.
Though the domestic box office so far this year has been unimpressive, business is going to pick up this weekend in a big way thanks to Disney's "Captain Marvel."
The first female-focused superhero movie from the MCU earned $20.7 million in Thursday night preview screenings, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That's the fifth-best preview take for an MCU movie, just behind "Captain America: Civil War" ($25 million).
It's a welcome sight for the movie business, as the beginning of 2019 didn't have a "Black Panther" or "Fifty Shades Freed" to power it past the slow early months of the year. Ticket sales this February fell to a 17-year low.
But, as usual, Disney has come to the rescue.
Industry projections have "Captain Marvel" opening this weekend somewhere between $125 million and $150 million. Anywhere in the range will put the movie in the top four of best opening weekends all time for the month of March.
And this is all going on as online trolling for the movie is at an all-time high. Negative reviews of the movie have been flooding into IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, the latter of which turned off the audience score until after "Captain Marvel" opened on Thursday night. Since then, the audience ranking is down to 34% while its critic score is at 82%.
However, despite the efforts of some on the internet, it looks like "Captain Marvel" is going to have the last laugh at the box office.