'Terrifying' dystopian war thriller from 28 Days Later creator sets box office records
A ‘terrifying’ dystopian war thriller that is freakily close to real-life America has dropped this past weekend – and it is already setting box office records.
The film hails from 28 Days Later creator Alex Garland, and looks at a fictional civil war between the US government and an alliance of Texan and Californian forces.
Focusing on the perspective of journalists covering the war breaking out in their home country, fans have been raving about it – and it has lit up the box office.
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The A24 film - titled Civil War - debuted at number one in North America, the first A24 film to ever achieve this.
A24 has carved out a niche as a distribution company known for producing some of the coolest and wildest films out there, from Midsommar and Hereditary to even iconic Oscar winner Moonlight.
Hereditary was A24’s previous biggest box office debut – and suffice to say Civil War has blown it out the water.
The American dystopian thriller, which has a 82 percent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing, is not only the first A24 film to top the charts in the US – but its biggest opening ever.
Hereditary opened in fourth place back in 2018, with a respectable $13 million at the Box Office.
Civil War meanwhile opened to a whopping $25 million, and that’s just in the US.
That said, Civil War will absolutely need to keep that momentum going, as the film is the production company’s most expensive ever.
The epic war thriller cost $50 million to make, with it being considered the company's real big first foray into blockbuster filmmaking.
This record shows that it isn’t just lofty critics loving this film – the people are coming out in droves for the film.
One film fan posted on X: “Civil War is one of the most captivating film experiences I've ever had. Unnerving, visceral & apolitically challenging.
“A pitting of humanity against the very thing it fears the most - ITSELF. I felt every cry, scream, & gunshot. [Kirsten] Dunst, [Cailee] Spaeny & [Jesse] Plemons are all terrific.”
The top comment on a review thread on subreddit r/movies agreed, saying:
“Saw this movie yesterday and, Geez, what a gut punch. And I'm not even a US citizen!
“Seeing how many often talk too much about war (if not actually civil war!), this film is a great reminder of the horrors of war.
“We often imagine it far away from us in some remote place only on TV screens, but seeing it in places familiar to us makes us understand its inhumanity.
“Highly recommended and worth seeing, not only for the themes covered but from a technical point of view, a dry film with no frills. I liked a comment on Youtube: ‘In theaters in the US on April 12th and in the rest of the country on November 5th’.”
Whether it be the looming November election, the writing of Garland, or simple luck of when it dropped – people are loving Civil War.
Civil War is out in cinemas now.
Topics: Entertainment, Film, Politics, TV and Film, 28 Years Later
Michael Slavin