NEW YORK (NYTimes) - As Captain Marvel swooped into its second weekend in theatres, the question was not really whether it would top North American ticket sales, but by how much.
Disney-Marvel can breathe easy. The first film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe dedicated to a female superhero sold an estimated US$69.3 million (S$94 million) in tickets, bringing its North American total to US$266.2 million.
That is a higher figure than the lifetime domestic gross of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (US$259.8 million), and makes Captain Marvel the 13th-bestselling film in the current 21-movie Marvel series - with room to grow.
Captain Marvel has done well internationally, too, with US$120 million earned over the weekend, for a global total of US$760 million.
That success came despite attempts by trolls to derail Captain Marvel.
Before its release, it was the target of efforts at online sabotage by users apparently lashing out against its star, Brie Larson, who has been outspoken in her support of more diverse representation in Hollywood movies.
Free from any targeted online attack was Wonder Park, an animated family movie about a young girl who dreams up plans for an amusement park and sees them colourfully brought to life. It sold US$16 million in tickets, enough to land it in second place.
The only other newcomer in the top five was Five Feet Apart, in third. The movie, about a couple whose shared genetic disorder forces them to maintain physical distance from each other despite their growing romance, sold US$13.2 million in tickets.
