The World Does Not Hate Captain America

International ticket sales for Captain America have been surprisingly strong.

Hollywood was a bit scared that there would be little international ticket sales for the patriotic hero, given that the United States’ approval rating isn’t exactly stellar at this point. Paramount Pictures even gave countries the option of releasing the movie under the film’s subtitle The First Avenger instead of including that whole Captain America part. Despite those fears, the film has grossed more than $100 million internationally after only opening in 41 smaller markets. Hollywood executives now think they were overly cautious and that Captain America is going to end up one of the more popular comic book characters in cinema this year.

“We are very pleased with Captain America’s international results so far, which clearly demonstrate the worldwide popularity of the iconic lead character as well as the continuing power of 3D at the box office,” said Paramount Pictures International president Andrew Cripps.

Only three nations opted to use the shorter title of The First Avenger – Russia, Ukraine and South Korea – but that’s kind of expected given the political leanings of those countries. (As my father-in-law would say, “Screw those commie pinkos.”) The rest of the world so far have been happy with emblazoning their movie theater marquees with the words Captain America.

Due to the strong international sales, Captain America is on track to outperform its comic book adaptation counterparts this summer:

Thor (Paramount/Marvel)
Budget: $150 mil
Domestic: $180 mil
International: $267.2 mil
Worldwide: $448 mil

X-Men: First Class (20th Century Fox)
Budget: $140 mil
Domestic: $145.3 mil
International: $203.8 mil
Worldwide: $349.1 mil

Captain America: The First Avenger (Paramount/Marvel)
Budget: $140 mil
Domestic: $143.2 mil
International: $103 mil*
Worldwide: $246.2 mil

Green Lantern (Warner Bros.)
Budget: $200 mil
Domestic: $114.6 mil
International: $45.7 mil*
Worldwide: $160.3 mil

* Still rolling out overseas.

Oh, Green Lantern. I think you may have single-handedly ruined Ryan Reynolds career. And for that, we thank you.

Source: Hollywood Reporter