(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- "Captain Marvel," the first female-led superhero film released by Disney's Marvel film division, made a huge impression over the weekend, racking up $153 million in ticket sales in the United States.
The science fiction adventure, led by Brie Larson in the title role of a galaxy-traveling soldier who can unleash bursts of energy, grossed another $302 million in foreign countries and easily led the pack of movies playing this weekend.
The movie is part of Marvel's shared universe of superheroes in which characters cross over into each other's movies. It leads up to the epic-length "Avengers: Endgame" that is supposed to cap 10 years' worth of Marvel film adventures about Iron Man, Captain America, Black Panther and other characters co-created by the late Stan Lee ("Captain Marvel" is dedicated to the comics guru).
Larson's film drew unwanted attention leading up to its March 8 debut when it became the target of an apparenly misogynistic smear campaign by some visitors to the "Rotten Tomatoes" movie review website. In response, Rotten Tomatoes disabled the ability audiences to review films before release.
"Captain Marvel" has scored a more-than-respectable 80 percent overall rating from critics.
For a list of box office winners and losers this weekend, go to boxofficemojo.com.