One of the Most Pulse-Pounding War Movies of the 21st Century Pulverizes Competition on Streaming
Kirsten Dunst as Lee looking out at a violent scene from the shadows in Civil War.Image via A24
This past weekend, director Josh Safdie‘s Marty Supreme broke the record for the biggest domestic debut for an A24 title by grossing $28 million. The movie whose record it beat was released only in 2024; its release marked a change in strategy for A24, which had spent around a decade producing and distributing small-budget genre films. Backed with a major investment, the arthouse outfit wanted to set its sights on bigger goals and to occupy the void left for mid-budget movies in the marketplace. A24’s first release of this new era was Alex Garland‘s Civil War, which earned $26 million in its domestic debut, and went on to gross nearly $130 million worldwide during the course of its global run. It remains the second-biggest hit in A24’s history, behind only the Oscar-winning Everything Everywhere All at Once. But even though it’s poised to be overtaken by Marty Supreme in the coming weeks, Civil War is continuing to draw audiences on home video.
According to FlixPatrol, it was the second-most-watched movie on the domestic Apple TV charts on December 29 and December 30, behind only Paul Thomas Anderson‘s recent epic, One Battle After Another. Produced on a reported budget of $50 million — a record for A24, which has since been broken by Marty Supreme — the movie made $127 million at the global box office. It followed a group of journalists on a cross-country quest to Washington, D.C. during a brewing civil war to overthrow a dictatorial president.
‘Civil War’ Demands to Be Seen With a Great Sound System
Kirsten Dunst played a decorated war photographer, while Cailee Spaeny played a young journalist who wants to follow in her footsteps. The film also featured Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, and a scene-stealing Jesse Plemons. Civil War divided audiences, earning some backlash for its politics but receiving acclaim for its technical achievements. However, it received mostly positive reviews, and is now sitting at a “certified fresh” 81% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The movie ends with one of the most pulse-pounding sequences of recent times; a gunfight in which rebel forces break into the White House with the journalists in tow, there to document a historic moment.
You can watch Civil War at home, preferably with a top-notch sound system, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.
Release Date
April 12, 2024
Runtime
109 Minutes
Director
Alex Garland
Writers
Alex Garland
