Marvel's first female-fronted superhero movie more than doubled the opening weekend of 'Wonder Woman' in China.


Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson, made a heroic start at the massive Chinese box office over the weekend, earning $89.3 million according to studio estimates.


The tentpole's powerful launch represents Marvel's third biggest opening weekend ever in China, behind only Avengers: Infinity War and Captain America: Civil War. It was also China's biggest box-office weekend ever in March, and Marvel's best standalone introduction of a new character, soaring past Black Panther's $66.5 million opening last year (Sony's Venom and Warner Bros Aquaman debuted new characters to slightly more though — $111 million and $93.6 million, respectively).


As a milestone of representation, Captain Marvel more than doubled the China debut of Warner Bros.' Wonder Woman ($38 million), becoming the market's top comic book adaptation featuring a woman in the lead role. It didn't quite managed the biggest bow for a female-fronted film overall, however. That crown still belongs to Sony's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, which slayed an astonishing $94.3 million opening in 2016.


Captain Marvel was predictably strong across Imax's China network, earning $10.4 million from 603 of the exhibitor's giant screens in the country. It was Imax's second-highest superhero opening in China and best-ever showing in March.


Captain Marvel was especially huge on Friday, bringing in $34.3 million (counting $2.46 million in Thursday midnight previews). Somewhat puzzlingly, though, it didn't build as much as expected on Saturday, growing only 5 percent to $33.5 million. Sunday's earnings also dipped further than the Marvel norm. Word of mouth for the film is still solid — 8.8/10 on ticketing service Maoyan; 7/10 on reviews aggregator Douban — if not gushing (market favorites like Avengers: Infinity War, Venom and Aquaman have scored slightly higher on both reviews platforms).


Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, Captain Marvel is set in 1995 and follows galactic warrior Vers as she flexes her powers and savvy when a battle between two alien races threatens Earth. Along the way, she discovers her true identity and past — along with fan-favorite, Goose the cat.


The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Djimon Hounsou, Lee Pace, Lashana Lynch, Gemma Chan, Rune Temte, Algenis Perez Soto, Mckenna Grace, Annette Bening, Clark Gregg and Jude Law. Larson will reprise her role in the upcoming Avengers: Endgame.