“Captain America: Civil War” is making U.S. box office history, blasting to the fifth-best opening weekend ever with an estimated $180 million.
Marvel-Disney’s tentpole launched the summer moviegoing season on Friday with a spectacular $75.3 million at 4,226 locations — the eighth-highest opening day of all time. That figure includes $25 million from Thursday night preview showings.

“Captain America: Civil War” should finish the weekend in elite company behind only four other films: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at $248 million, “Jurassic World” at $208.8 million, “Marvel’s The Avengers” at $207.4 million and “Avengers: Age of Ultron” at $191.3 million.
Projections on Saturday showed the third “Captain America” will replace “Iron Man 3,” which opened with $174.1 million on the same weekend in 2013, as the fifth-highest launch at the U.S. box office. Its per-location average is about $42,000 for the weekend.

The $75 opening day total for “Civil War” trails only seven titles, led by “The Force Awakens” at $119.1 million, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” at $91.1 million, “Ultron” at $84.4 million, “Jurassic World” at $82 million, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” at $81.6 million, “Marvel’s the Avengers” at $80.8 million and “The Dark Knight Rises” at $75.8 million.

“Captain America: Civil War,” the 13th film in the Marvel Universe, has already shown plenty of power outside the U.S. with $291.2 million as of Thursday after nine days. That number should jump this weekend, thanks in part to the opening in China.
Disney’s marketing hooks for the movie include a duel between Chris Evans’ Captain America and Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, plus the introduction of Chadwick Boseman’s Black Panther and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man. The “Captain America: Winter Soldier” directorial team of Joe and Anthony Russo helmed the sequel.

Online ticketing service Fandango reported on Wednesday that “Civil War” had generated a record in advance sales for a superhero title, surpassing “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “The Avengers.”
No other title is opening this weekend, but Disney’s “The Jungle Book” is dominating the holdovers with an estimated $23 million at 4,144 U.S. locations, dropping 47% after winning the previous three frames handily. The adventure-comedy should close the weekend with about $286 million in its first 24 days in the U.S.

Open Road’s second weekend of ensemble comedy “Mother’s Day” leads the rest of the pack with about $6.5 million at 3,141 sites, down 23%.