Captain America: The First Avenger million in what was the second highest-grossing opening weekend for a superhero film in 2011, behind "Thor" ($65.7 million). "Captain America: The First Avenger" is the third highest-grossing motion picture set during the World War II era, after "Saving Private Ryan" and "Pearl Harbor". The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported an 79% approval rating with an average rating of 6.9/10 based on 258 reviews. The website's consensus reads, "With plenty of pulpy action, a pleasantly retro vibe, and a handful of fine performances, "Captain America" is solidly old-fashioned blockbuster entertainment." Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, rated the
Captain America: The First Avenger or actual vehicles from the period were used as inspiration. Daniel Simon, who was previously responsible for many vehicle designs in "", was appointed Lead Vehicle Designer. Director Johnston cited Simon's book "Cosmic Motors" as a reason to trust his influence, saying "he's sort of the guy I wanted to be when I was designing stuff for "Star Wars"". The Red Skull's car, for instance, was based on two Mercedes-Benz vehicles from the 1930s, the 540K and the G4. "Variety" reported in March 2010 that Chris Evans was cast as Captain America and Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull; Marvel