India, May 5 -- Marvel's newest release, Thunderbolts, had an above-expectations start at the global box office. The film, featuring Marvel Cinematic Universe's first-ever team of anti-heroes, has received good reviews and has widely been called one of the best films from the franchise in years. This has led to a decent box office debut with the film still has some ground to cover.

According to figures released by Box Office Mojo, Thunderbolts earned $76 million in North America and $86.1 million overseas on its release day to register a $162.1-million opening worldwide. This is above the projected opening of the film. Prior to release, the film had been projected to open at around $150 million. But early release in many territories like...