411 Box Office Report: Ant-Man & The Wasp Dominates With $76 Million Start

Ant-Man & The Wasp is off to a strong start as it opened atop the box office this weekend. The latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film brought in $76 million, right around expectations heading into the weekend. That number is an improvement of 33% from the first Ant-Man’s $57.2 million in 2015, and slightly behind Doctor Strange’s $85.1 million opening in November of 2016.

The opening weekend numbers for the MCU film pale in comparison to the huge openings of recent films Avengers: Infinity War ($257.7 million) and Black Panther ($207.4 million), but the film was never expected to do those numbers. The improvement off the original film has Marvel happy. That improvement comes thanks to the MCU’s momentum and positive reception to the first film, as well as an effective marketing campaign that sold both main heroes along with the humor and action. Critics liked the film, giving it reviews that averaged out to an 87% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audience reaction was also quite positive with an A-. That’s slightly below the A that the first Ant-Man received, but still sure to be a boost to the word of mouth that will help the film to decent legs.

How good will those legs be? The slightly lower word of mouth suggests that the film may not quite dominate week to week that other films in the MCU have. Of the films in the franchise, those with an A CinemaScore average a 2.73 multiple, while the A- CinemaScore films (Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Incredible Hulk) have a 2.52 average. However, of those only First Avenger opened in July after the majority of the blockbusters had opened. It did a 2.71, which is a reasonable expectation for Ant-Man & The Wasp. That would give it around $200 million, a minor improvement over the first’s $180.2 million domestic gross. Overseas, the film is off to a good start with $85 million in forty-one markets, with several markets like China, France, Germany, and the UK yet to open. With a $162 million budget, it will be in fine shape.

Spending its third weekend at #2 was The Incredibles 2. The Disney-Pixar sequel brought in $29 million, off a very nice 38% from last weekend. The animated superhero film is up to $504.4 million domestically, surpassing Beauty & The Beast for #11 on the all-time domestic chart, and $772.8 million worldwide. Pixar has a big hit with this one, even with the $200 million budget. A final domestic gross of $560 million is possible.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom fell two spots to #3 in its third week with $28.6 million, down 53% from last weekend. That is slightly worse than the 48% drop that the first Jurassic World did, following the higher drop last weekend as well. The action-adventure blockbuster isn’t hurting too badly though, sitting at $333.3 million domestically and $1.058 billion worldwide. It is still looking likely for a $375 million or more domestic gross. The budget was $170 million, and needless to say this is a hit.

The First Purge lifted off this weekend with a $17.2 million opening. That is on the high end of pre-weekend industry estimates. While on first glance the film opened way below the previous entries of $29.8 million to $34.1 million, that belies the fact that this prequel of the horror franchise opened on Wednesday, July 4th. Its domestic total is $31.1 million through Wednesday.

Either way, this is a start that Blumhouse is happy with. The First Purge follows the company’s strategy of lower-budget genre films that bring in very good returns. While this movie has the highest budget of the franchise, that’s not saying much; the film cost $13 million. This franchise has always been critic-proof, and the latest is no exception as the 52% RT score didn’t do anything to ding it. The B- CinemaScore is on the low end of the franchise’s scores, behind The Purge: Election Year’s B+ and The Purge: Anarchy’s B, but ahead of the first movie’s C.

At this point, the film is pretty well guaranteed a profit margin. It added $10.9 million overseas this weekend in twenty-six markets for a $42 million worldwide gross. It seems likely to make it to at least $65 million domestically and will be another profitable venture from the franchise.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado performed less admirably in its second weekend, down a rough 62% to $7.3 million. By comparison, the first Sicario fell just 38% in its second weekend of wide release. Day of the Soldado doesn’t have too much to worry about though, as it is currently up to $35.3 million domestically and $43.6 million worldwide. While the budget was more expensive than the first $35 million, this should still be a profitable venture with a $55 million likely domestic finale.

Uncle Drew was also down heavily in its second weekend, off 57% to $6.6 million. The sports comedy is now sitting at $29.9 million domestically and $30.6 million worldwide. On an $18 million budget, it has a pretty easy path to profit. It should make it to around $40 million to $45 million in the US.

Ocean’s 8 continues blazing a path as it had another small drop, down a mere 37% in its fifth weekend with $5.3 million. The Ocean’s Eleven spin-off has brought its totals to $126.8 million domestically and $236.9 million worldwide, making it a hit for Warner Bros. on a $70 million budget. The movie looks likely to top $135 million at least in the states.

Tag was down an okay 47% to $3.1 million in its fourth weekend. The ensemble action-comedy has now rung up $48.3 million domestically and $60.8 million worlwide. It is looking at a very likely $55 million for the studio and will bring in a profit on its $28 million budget.

Mr. Rogers documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? continues to perform very well as Focus expands it, moving into 893 total theaters with a $2.6 million weekend. That’s up 7% from last weekend. The movie has hit $12.4 million and will probably finish with at least $18 million or so. As witrrh most documentari4es this has a tiny budget, ensuring profit.

Deadpool 2 closed out the top ten in its eighth weekend with $1.7 million. That brings the sequel up to $314.5 million domestically and $727.3 million worldwide, a big hit on its $110 million budget. It is on course for around $320 million in the US on track.

Next weekend should see Ant-Man & The Wasp cede way for Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation. The animated comedy is aiming for the mid-$40 million. The Rock’s Skyscraper should bring in a number in the mid-thirties.

BOX OFFICE TOP TEN (Three-Day Domestic Numbers)
1. Ant-Man & The Wasp – $76 million ($76 million total)
2. The Incredibles 2 – $29 million ($504.4 million total)
3. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom – $28.6 million ($333.3 million total)
4. The First Purge – $17.2 million ($31.1 million total)
5. Sicario: Day of the Soldado – $7.3 million ($35.3 million total)
6. Uncle Drew – $6.6 million ($29.9 million total)
7. Ocean’s 8 – $5.3 million ($126.8 million total)
8. Tag – $3.1 million ($48.3 million total)
9. Won’t You Be My Neighbor – $2.6 million ($12.4 million total)
10. Deadpool 2 – $1.7 million ($314.5 million total)