'Ant-Man and the Wasp' Wins the Weekend
by EG
Ant-Man and the Wasp earned much more in its opening weekend than its predecessor did back in 2015. The new Marvel movie also had the seventh-biggest opening weekend of the year so far. Even with all that, 'Ant-Man and the Wasp' had, by far, the smallest opening of any Marvel movie so far in 2018. That's what you get for playing in the major leagues. Read on for details.
Ant-Man and the Wasp may have leveled off a bit in its North American box-office debut, but it had no trouble crushing the competition over the weekend with $76 million — or coming in 33 percent ahead of the first Ant-Man as Disney and Marvel Studios cement the standing of another stand-alone franchise.
Overseas, the pesky superhero and his new female partner, The Wasp, buzzed to $85 million for a global start of $161 million. The sequel, laced with plenty of comedy, is pacing 45 percent ahead of Ant-Man internationally. South Korea led with a mighty $20.9 million, including previews.
Heading into the weekend, tracking suggested Ant-Man 2 could come in as high as $85 million domestically, while the lower end of the range was $70 million. The summer tentpole saw a dip of 30 percent from Friday to Saturday, helping to explain the film's ultimate opening number.
Moviegoing in Los Angeles didn't seem to be impacted to any great measure by a record-breaking heat wave that sent temperatures past the century mark in many communities. Saturday traffic was down more than expected across the country, prompting some box-office observers to speculate that it was a post-Fourth of July travel day for some.
In summer 2015, the original Ant-Man opened to $57.2 million domestically.
Ant-Man and the Wasp is the 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and flew into theaters following the staggering success of fellow Marvel titles Avengers: Infinity War earlier this summer and Black Panther in February. Ant-Man and the Wasp boasts an 87 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and earned an A- CinemaScore from audiences. Still, it is a smaller property in the Marvel stable.
Gte the rest of the story at The Hollywood Reporter.
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