Ant-Man took the top spot for the weekend box office, but the movie's $58 million debut is nothing spectacular. At least when compared to other Marvel movies, that is.
Movies from the studio have a reputation for sweeping the box office and Ant-Man certainly delivered in that respect. However, with $58 million, it didn't rake in the same kind of earnings that other Marvel movies have been known for. Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor, for instance, were credited with $65.1 million and $65.7 million, respectively.
Then again, Ant-Man didn't have the same kind of budget they did, working with just $130 million. That's still a sizable amount but it's relatively inexpensive compared to, say, Avengers: Age of Ultron, which was made with $280 million.
Not that budget got in the way of Ant-Man being an entertaining flick. Analysts never expected the movie to break into the $80- or $100-million mark but it was still a success, a "perfectly solid result for a brand new property," which appealed more to women and families.
Will this kind of performance be enough to warrant an Ant-Man 2? The possibility exists, especially after being rated "A" by audiences in CinemaScore, but trends are not in its favor. The closest that a Marvel movie came to a similar opening was in 2008 with Edward Nortion's The Incredible Hulk. The movie opened with $55 million and was never picked up for an installment. Paul Rudd, however, has been cast to reappear as Ant-Man in Captain America: Civil War.
Ant-Man is followed in the weekend box office by Minions, with $50.2 million, and Trainwreck, which also opened in the same weekend, with $30.2 million. The rest of the top 10 includes:
- Inside Out, with $11.7 million
- Jurassic World, with $11.4 million
- Terminator Genisys, with $5.4 million
- Magic Mike XXL, with $4.5 million
- Gallows, with $4 million
- Ted 2, with $2.7 million
- Mr. Holmes, with $2.5 million
Outside North America, though, Ant-Man is fourth in the weekend box office. The top spot went to Monster Hunt, with $72 million. Minions is still in second place, with $66.2 million, while Jian Bing Man took third with $61 million.
