411 Box Office Report: Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania Dominates For #1 Start

The MCU blasted its way to #1 at the box office again as Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania opened big. The third film in the Ant-Man series got off to a $104 million start through Sunday and $118 million projected through President’s Day on Monday. While that is below recent Marvel entries like Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($181.3 million start), Thor: Love & Thunder ($144.1 million) and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness ($187.4 million), it is the best opening for an Ant-Man film to date as it topped Ant-Man & the Wasp’s $75.8 million opening from July of 2018.

And really, Quantumania was never expected to hit the heights of other MCU films. This franchise has always performed more modestly, and while they went bigger in scale for this third film that doesn’t automatically add the number of viewers that are going to flood the cinemas for it to Doctor Strange levels. It is also noteworthy that that this is one of the worst-reviewed films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe; the aggregated score on Rotten Tomatoes stands at 47%, matching Eternals’ RT score.

That said, it’s not clear how much the lack of critic buzz affected this one. It may have hurt the night one audience, but the film held on well for a blockbuster throughout the weekend. The RT audience rating is a solid 84%, and the CinemaScore is a B – the latter again tied with Eternals for the lowest in the franchise. The importance of this film in adding Kang – who will be crucial to the MCU moving forward – seems to have had an effect in bringing audiences out and having them stick around.

While Quantumania did solidly here in the US, it was a bit soft overseas where it added $121.3 million for a $225.3 million worldwide take. That’s not a bad start, though it does mean that this will have to stretch a bit further to make a big profit. The budget for this one is surprisingly not known (budgets for MCU films are usually sussed out pretty well), but given the increased scale of the visual effects and where Marvel is spending as late, $200 million seems pretty likely. Quantummania looks likely to close out with around $250 million domestically, which means it will need to roughly overseas match that to hit a profit if the budget guess is accurate. That’s entirely doable.

Avatar: The Way Of Water’s was #2 again in its 10th week with $6.1 million through Sunday, down just 15%, and $7.5 million through Monday. The sci-fi blockbuster is now up to $658.4 million domestically and $2.244 billion worldwide. It is back up to #3 in terms of its worldwide gross and lands at #9 domestically currently. It is of course a megahit and should be able to top $675 million domestically, perhaps higher.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance held on solidly after its mild start, down 35% in its second weekend with $5.4 million through Sunday and $6.3 million through Monday. The third film in the franchise is now at $18.9 million domestically and $38.5 million worldwide. It still needs to perform well in order to make it to profit against its $40 million budget though, and international grosses will need to stay strong for that to work because its domestic total is still on par for around $30 million.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish remains the cat that refuses to die, as it was down just 6% in its ninth weekend to $5.3 million through Sunday and $7 million through Monday. The animated sequel has now landed at $167.8 million domestically and $423.4 million worldwide, remarkable numbers considering its low start. It is a major hit for the studio against its $90 million budget and will top $185 million by the end of its run.

Knock At the Cabin was down 28% in its third weekend, scoring $3.9 million over three days and a projected $4.5 million over four. The M. Night Shyamalan film’s grosses are at $31 million domestically and $47.9 million worldwide, solid numbers if not great as it heads for some profit against a $20 million production budget plus marketing. It should manage to hit a final domestic total around $40 million or so.

80 For Brady was off 38% in its third weekend to $3.6 million over three days and $4.3 million through Monday. The sports-related comedy now stands at $32.9 million domestically and looks likely to hit $40 million by the end of its domestic run, with a smattering of international numbers to come expected to put it into profit against a $28 million budget.

The 25th anniversary rerelease of Titanic fell hard as expected, down 66% to $2.3 million ($2.7 million through Monday). That’s entirely normal behavior for re-releases. The 1997 James Cameron blockbuster has now pushed its grosses to $672.2 million domestically and $2.243 billion worldwide.

Coming in well under the radar at #8 was Marlowe. The Lian Neeson-led noir film based on the famed Raymond Chandler detective grossed just $1.6 million through Sunday and $1.9 million through Monday. That is the lowest wide-release start of Neeson’s box office career by a long measure, beating out the COVID-era drama The Marksman ($3.1 million).

If you weren’t aware Marlowe even existed, you wouldn’t be alone. Open Road Films barely marketed this one, likely because they didn’t expect it to do well. And it’s not exactly a hidden gem; the film came in with a 24% Rotten Tomatoes aggregate score. Audiences who did see it weren’t impressed either with a 41% audience score. Marlowe has grossed $3 million total and while its budget isn’t known, this one won’t likely be making it into profit. It might hit $8 million by the end of its domestic run.

Missing was down 34% in its fifth weekend, grossing $1.7 million through Sunday and $2 million through Monday. The ScreenLife thriller has totaled $30 million and is a hit for Sony Pictures against a budget of just $7 million. It should end its run at around $35 million domestically, with international releases coming next month.

A Man Called Otto closed out the top 10 with $1.6 million in three days and $1.9 million through four days. That’s down 40% in its eighth weekend, with a total now of $60.9 million domestically and $99.3 million worldwide. It has the potential for some profit against its $50 million budget and is still on course for $63 million domestically.

Ant-Man will rule again next weekend, as the new releases are Cocaine Bear (targeting about $10 million) and Jesus Revolution which is looking at the mid-single digits.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day/Four-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Ant-Man & the Wasp: Quantumania – $104 million/$118 million ($118 million total, $225.3 million WW)
2. Avatar: The Way Of Water – $6.2 million/$7.5 million ($658.4 million total, $2.244 billion WW)
3. Magic Mike’s Last Dance – $5.4 million/$6.3 million ($18.9 million total, $38.5 million WW)
4. Puss in Boots: The Last Wish – $5.3 million/$7 million ($167.8 million total, $423.4 million WW)
5. Knock At the Cabin – $3.9 million/$4.5 million ($31 million total, $47.9 million WW)
6. 80 For Brady – $3.6 million/$4.3 million ($32.9 million total, $32.9 million WW)
7. Titanic – $2.3 million/$2.7 million ($672.2 million total, $2.243 billion WW)
8. Marlowe – $1.9 million/$2.3 million ($3 million total, $3 million WW)
9. Missing – $1.7 million/$2 million ($30 million total, $30 million WW)
10. A Man Called Otto – $1.6 million/$1.9 million ($60.9 million total, $99.3 million WW)