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'Captain Marvel' Earns $153 Million During Opening Weekend

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Captain Marvel did not just defeat her onscreen antagonists this weekend. She also stomped on a few Internet trolls. That was on the way to posting impressive numbers at the box office. Our critic Bob Mondello has details.

BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: There was never any question that "Captain Marvel" was going to rule the weekend box office.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPTAIN MARVEL")

BRIE LARSON: (As Captain Marvel) Higher, further, faster, baby.

MONDELLO: But there was this odd thing that happened just as she was arriving in theaters. The review site Rotten Tomatoes had the consensus of critics at a very positive 80 percent, but it listed an audience rating in the 50s. That would normally mean the folks seeing the film didn't like it. But exit interviews showed that that definitely wasn't true. What had happened was that there had been an attempt by a few men's rights and "alt-right" activists to skew the numbers.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPTAIN MARVEL")

SAMUEL L JACKSON: (As Nick Fury) I'm guessing that's not standard procedure.

LARSON: (As Carol Danvers) No.

MONDELLO: They were reacting to something Brie Larson, the star of "Captain Marvel," had done. She'd noticed that the critics showing up to do interviews about her films were overwhelmingly white and male. So Larson offered to sit down for the magazine Marie Claire with journalist Keah Brown, a woman of color who has cerebral palsy. Larson also did lots of other interviews, but her attempt to be inclusive in this one instance was apparently read as exclusionary by a few men's rights activists.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPTAIN MARVEL")

LARSON: (As Captain Marvel) Oh, boy. You guys don't have any clue, do you?

MONDELLO: They urged their followers to skip "Captain Marvel" and see other movies instead. If anyone followed their advice, you'd never know. Since opening on Thursday evening, "Captain Marvel" has earned $153 million at North American box offices plus about twice that overseas.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPTAIN MARVEL")

JACKSON: (As Nick Fury) That's what I'm talking about.

MONDELLO: And that $153 million figure gives Brie Larson bragging rights when she huddles with her fellow Marvel superheroes in "Avengers Endgame." She can point out to Robert Downey Jr., for instance, that she's topped the openings of his first two "Iron Man" movies.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "IRON MAN 3")

ROBERT DOWNEY JR: (As Tony Stark) I've got a lot of apologies to make.

MONDELLO: She can tell Chris Evans she did better than his first two "Captain Americas."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR")

CHRIS EVANS: (As Captain America) I can't ignore it.

MONDELLO: She's also topped all three "Thors," both "Deadpools" and both "Ant-Men" (ph), which would likely leave Paul Rudd pretty dejected.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "ANT-MAN")

PAUL RUDD: (As Scott Lang) I seem to mess it up almost every time.

MONDELLO: But he's in good company considering that her opening is also bigger than those of all the "Spider-Men" (ph), all the "X-Men" and both "Guardians Of The Galaxy."

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY")

BRADLEY COOPER: (As Rocket Raccoon) No.

MONDELLO: In fact, if you jump to the DC Cinematic Universe, she's topped most of them, too, including "Wonder Woman," who you might call her sister-in-law-enforcement.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "WONDER WOMAN")

GAL GADOT: (As Wonder Woman) It is our sacred duty to defend the world, and it's what I'm going to do.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "CAPTAIN MARVEL")

LARSON: (As Captain Marvel) Try to keep up.

MONDELLO: While we're on the subject, let's note that despite the Internet trolling, Captain Marvel's audience this weekend skewed 55 percent male, something that was not true of "Wonder Woman" on her first weekend. Men had to come around on that one. Maybe they're getting the message. I'm Bob Mondello. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Bob Mondello, who jokes that he was a jinx at the beginning of his critical career — hired to write for every small paper that ever folded in Washington, just as it was about to collapse — saw that jinx broken in 1984 when he came to NPR.