Director Alex Garland initiated an evolution for the indie distributor A24 last year, with his dystopian thriller Civil War grossing over $100 million globally and nearly $70 million in stateside theaters. Civil War was the most expensive film produced by A24, with a reported budget of $50 million. Garland and A24 reunited this year for the acclaimed thriller Warfare, which he co-directed with the Iraq War veteran Ray Mendoza. Produced on a smaller budget of $20 million, the movie opened to excellent reviews but found it difficult to match Civil War’s performance in its box office debut.

This weekend, the movie added almost $5 million to its domestic total, which now stands at over $17 million. Warfare has now overtaken fellow Iraq War thriller The Hurt Locker domestically. Released in 2009, The Hurt Locker won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and grossed almost $50 million worldwide. Warfarehasn’t quite been unleashed overseas as yet, which means...