World War II Film “Dunkirk” Crushes Competition In Opening Weekend

Director Christopher Nolan has done it again. Dunkirk, Nolan’s latest film, is one of the most critically acclaimed and best performing movies of the year.

The World War II film raked in an impressive $50.5 million in the USA market. That’s a better opening than most other WWII-inspired movies and far better than what film experts were expecting.

Dunkirk also topped the charts in the 46 other countries it was released in. Added with the USA, this film made $105.9 million in global sales.

Although all critics hailed Dunkirk as a masterpiece, they thought it would be difficult for the film to break $40 million given its subject matter. The film’s strong debut shows the popularity of Nolan’s brand with American audiences.

Of course, most people know of Nolan through his epic Dark Night trilogy. Many people consider Nolan’s take on the legendary DC comic Batman to be one of the best superhero trilogies ever made.

Stats show that most of the people who went to see Dunkirk were older men. Specifically, 60 percent of the people who saw this film were male and 76 percent were over the age of 25.

Although most of the people who saw this movie were older, Dunkirk was able to attract many youngsters thanks to Harry Styles. This former One Direction singer made his acting debut in Dunkirk as British Army Private Alex.

A few of the other big name actors in this drama include Sir Mark Rylance, Sir Kenneth Branagh, and Cillian Murphy. Two actors making their big screen debut in Dunkirk are Fionn Whitehead and Tom Glynn-Carney.

Dunkirk scored an impressive 92 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. On that website, critics said Dunkirk is definitely one of Nolan’s crowning achievements and a real Oscar contender.

For those who don’t know, Dunkirk tells the true story of a rescue mission in May of 1940. As the German troops were advancing into France, the British government helped save some 330,000 Allied soldiers off the island of Dunkirk. Nolan tells the story from three main perspectives: land, sea, and air.

Despite Dunkirk‘s strong showing, the highest grossing WWII film ever made is still Saving Private Ryan. When adjusted for inflation, Stephen Spielberg’s film grossed and impressive $57.6 million in the opening weekend and a total of $216.5 million domestically. Although Dunkirk may go down as one of the most successful WWII films of all time, it’s unlikely to defeat Saving Private Ryan’s record.