Marvel Studios’ Thunderbolts is nearing its first major box office milestone, with the ensemble superhero film set to cross the USD 100 million mark in the US. The Florence Pugh-led title capped off its first full week at the domestic box office with a strong USD 4.2 million on Thursday, showing dignified stability with just a 2.7 percent drop from Wednesday.
The hold is particularly notable in comparison with several earlier Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) titles.
Thunderbolts outpaced The Marvels (USD 1.3M, -30 percent), Captain America: Brave New World (3.2M, -5.1 percent), and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (USD 3.9M, -15.6 percent) and nearly matched the Thursday grosses of MCU staples like The Winter Soldier (USD 4.6M) and Ant-Man (4.7M, -8.1 percent). Only a handful of recent Marvel entries have held as well or better midweek, including Quantumania, which dipped just 2 percent.
With a current US total of USD 95.3 million, Thunderbolts is poised to become another solid box office performer for Marvel in 2025. The film has already amassed USD 181.6 million worldwide, becoming the eighth highest-grossing film of the year so far.
Directed by Jake Schrier and written by Eric Pearson and Joanna Calo, Thunderbolts brings together a team of antiheroes, including characters played by Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who are forced to work together on a high-stakes mission that could lead to their redemption. Pugh leads the charge as Yelena Belova, with supporting roles from Geraldine Viswanathan, Lewis Pullman, Olga Kurylenko, and Hannah John-Kamen.
Initially teased in the MCU back in 2021, Thunderbolts faced production delays due to the 2023 Hollywood strikes, resulting in script rewrites and some cast reshuffling. Filming wrapped in mid-2024 after extensive shoots in Atlanta, Utah, and Kuala Lumpur.
The film premiered in London on April 22 and was released stateside on May 2, serving as the closing chapter of Marvel’s Phase Five. The title’s asterisk—a very seriously discussed easter egg—was revealed in the film’s final minutes, symbolizing the team’s rebranding as The New Avengers.
With a strong week-one performance and solid audience reception, Thunderbolts appears well-positioned for a long and healthy run as the summer box office heats up.
