Marvel's 'Thunderbolt' storms box office with £60m debut – but but can the movie rescue a fading franchise?

Marvel Studios’ latest superhero entry “Thunderbolts” has powered to the top of the US box office with a £60 million ($76 million) opening weekend – a solid start, but still short of the fireworks once expected from the comic book giant.

The antihero team-up film, led by Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Sebastian Stan, kicked off the summer movie season by hitting No.1, studio estimates confirmed Sunday. But the numbers fall just shy of Marvel’s blockbuster glory days.

Fans and insiders alike had hoped “Thunderbolts” would help return Marvel to form following a string of underwhelming releases.

But its debut performance echoes 2021’s “Eternals” ($71 million) and 2018’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp” ($75 million), rather than mega-hits like “Avengers: .”

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That said, the film has earned praise. Unlike recent Marvel outings, “Thunderbolts” scored a strong 88% ‘fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned an impressive “A-” from CinemaScore, indicating audiences are enjoying it.

“This is a great reset,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “They’re hitting the reset with ‘Thunderbolts.’ The great reviews and the word-of-mouth should hold it (in) good stead.”

Directed by Jake Schreier, the movie teases Marvel’s next chapter with a nod to the upcoming “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” due out July 25.

Marvel shelled out about $180 million to produce the film, which added another $86.1 million in overseas ticket sales.

Still, competition at the box office proved tough. Ryan Coogler’s vampire drama “Sinners,” which had ruled cinemas for the past two weeks, pulled in another $33 million in its third weekend – just a 28% drop. The 1932-set thriller, starring Michael B. Jordan in a dual role as bootlegging brothers, has now grossed nearly $180 million domestically and over $236 million globally.

Meanwhile, Warner Bros. claimed third spot with its hit “A Minecraft Movie.” The video game adaptation brought in $13.7 million over the weekend and has now racked up £698 million ($873.4 million) worldwide.

The studio even added “Block Party Edition” screenings to keep the hype alive, complete with sing-alongs and “meme-along” sessions for TikTok-hungry fans.

One of the most talked-about releases was “Rust,” which finally arrived in theatres more than three years after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was tragically killed on set.

The Alec Baldwin western grossed around $25,000 across 115 cinemas, according to estimates, though no official box office figures were released.

The film’s release follows a legal saga: Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer, was sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter, while first assistant director David Halls received probation after a no-contest plea.

Charges against Baldwin were dismissed twice, in 2023 and again in 2024. As part of a wrongful death settlement, Hutchins’ husband Matt Hutchins became an executive producer on the film.

Elsewhere, “The Surfer,” starring , made a modest splash with £540,000 ($674,560) from 884 cinemas.

Here’s the full rundown of the weekend’s Top 10 films at the North American box office:

“Thunderbolts” – $76 million

“Sinners” – $33 million

“A Minecraft Movie” – $13.7 million

“The Accountant 2” – $9.5 million

“Until Dawn” – $3.8 million

“The Amateur” – $1.8 million

“The King of Kings” – $1.7 million

“Warfare” – $1.3 million

“Hit: The Third Case” – $869,667

“The Surfer” – $674,560