Theater counts: Captain America soars into 4,105 theaters

February 13, 2025

Despite the arrival of two newcomers to the big screen, it was a rather slow weekend at the domestic box office with Dog Man scoring just shy of $14 million, taking top billing in its second weekend and stifling the debuts of Love Hurts and Heart Eyes, which closed out the weekend with earnings of $5.8 million and $8.31 million, respectively. This weekend brings on two more films making their first foray into cinemas, including Captain America: Brave New World.

Starting out in 4,105 theaters, Captain America: Brave New World marks the first film to open in over 4,000 locations in 2025, with the last movie to do so being Mufasa: The Lion King, which debuted in 4,100 movie houses back on December 20th. Directed by Julius Onah, the film will easily be the biggest undertaking the relative newcomer has embarked upon. The feature also marks the fourth installment in the Captain America franchise and the 35th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, with the former holding a worldwide franchise total of $2.24 billion, while the latter holds the record for highest-grossing franchise, reaching just over $31 billion in global receipts. Anthony Mackie plays the titular character while backed up by a veteran ensemble cast including Tim Blake Nelson, Giancarlo Esposito, and Harrison Ford, to name a few.

Another franchise film is making its way into cinemas this weekend in the way of Paddington in Peru. The third feature in the Paddington franchise, the film follows Paddington as he discovers his beloved aunt has gone missing from the Home for Retired Bears and must venture to the wilds of Peru in search of her. Through two previous installments, the franchise has collected nearly $600 million in worldwide earnings, averaging over $245 million per film. Paddington in Peru opened in the United Kingdom on November 8, 2024, and has since racked up $104 million from various international markets. The latest Paddington adventure will start its North American run in 3,890 theaters, making it the second widest release of the weekend.

Rounding out the top five this Valentine’s Day weekend is the current box office top dog, as Dog Man drops 553 locations but is still widely available in 3,334 cinemas. Occupying the fourth and fifth place spots are the aforementioned newcomers from last weekend, as Heart Eyes and Love Hurts retain their opening counts of 3,102 and 3,055 locations, respectively.

Looking ahead to next weekend, we see yet another two films making their way into theaters, this time with the release of the Oz Perkins-directed horror-comedy, The Monkey, as well as the true-life drama film, The Unbreakable Boy, with the latter projected to arrive in 1,300 cinemas. We will update those counts when they become available.

Filed under: Theater Counts, The Lion King, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Captain America, Paddington, Harrison Ford, Giancarlo Esposito, Anthony Mackie, Tim Blake Nelson, Oz Perkins, Julius Onah