Captain America: The Winter Soldier soars at the box office, opening with $96.2 M for the largest April opening on record. This record-breaking debut kicks off the summer blockbuster
box office season a month early.
Why the shift to an April release rather than remaining a summer launch?
“We looked at the possibility of creating separation from the other summer tentpoles,” Dave Hollis, head of worldwide theatrical distribution for Disney told The Huffington Post. “There was an opportunity. We have the second Marvel film coming at the end of the summer in Guardians of the Galaxy. We wanted to start and end the summer and take advantage of this holiday.”
Captain America: The Winter Soldier beat out the first installment of franchise, Captain America: The First Avenger and stole the #1 April box office crown from 2011’s Fast Five.
This unexpected April opening proves that you can release a big blockbuster any time of the year. As studios set their 2015 box office slate, the industry expects to see more big openings in April.
Captain America 2 is the only superhero flick in theaters until The Amazing Spider-Man 2 swings into theaters in May.
The Bigger Picture 