Entertainment
“Ant-Man And The Wasp: Quantumania” Opens Big With $104 Million WorldWide
(CTN NEWS) – Even though Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has had a bumpy start, Ant-Man And The Wasp is doing better than ever financially.
According to studio projections from Sunday, “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” debuted with $104 million in American ticket sales, easily outpacing the box office debuts of the other two Ant-Man movies.
“Quantumania” from The Walt Disney Co. made an additional $121.3 million worldwide, giving the diminutive hero a $225 million global debut.
It is, without a doubt, the biggest opening of the year. Yet “Quantumania” succeeded despite an uncharacteristically negative response for the 31st MCU movie.
The only MCU movie to rate as awful next to “The Eternals” (47%), “Quantumania,” starring Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp, and Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, has a fresh rating of 48% on Rotten Tomatoes.
This image released by Disney shows Paul Rudd, left, and Jonathan Majors in a scene from “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania.” (Disney/Marvel Studios via AP)
Also receiving a “B” CinemaScore from viewers, “Quantumania” wasn’t well received. The only other MCU movie to achieve a CinemaScore as low is “The Eternals.”
With mixed reviews for the post-“Avengers: Eternals” phase four of the comic book franchise, those ratings will be Marvel’s primary concern as it moves on with phase five of the MCU. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” will be released in May.
Yet regardless of the critiques, theatres hope that “Quantumania,” the year’s first big hit, is a portent of things to come.
About 30 additional wide releases are scheduled for 2023, following the unrest of the previous three years.
According to the marketplace, “it will feel almost like a pre-pandemic moviegoing situation in the following weeks,” predicted Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for analytics company Comscore.
“That’s excellent news after the turbulent last two or three years. For this industry, this marks the beginning of several lengthy months. We’ve been watching holdovers like “Avatar” and other things in the waiting area.
Paul Rudd poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ in London, Thursday, Feb. 16, 2023. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
The first “Ant-Man” had the lowest domestic opening of any MCU film in 2015, with $57.2 million. In the end, $519.3 million was made globally.
Three years later, “Ant-Man and the Wasp” made its global debut with $75.8 million and earned $622.7 million.
Both of those releases earned over $100 million in China and were extremely important. Nonetheless, fewer American films have gotten significant releases in the tightly controlled Chinese market in recent years, particularly during the pandemic.
A Disney release hasn’t had a simultaneous U.S. and Chinese release since “Avengers: Endgame” in 2019.
Yet, it is unclear whether China will ever return to those pre-pandemic numbers for American films, especially with the lingering sensitivities over the Chinese aerial monitoring operation. Over the weekend, “Quantumania” made $19 million in China.
Avatar: The Way of Water
James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” maintained its second-place position with $6.4 million in its tenth-weekend release.
With $2.243 billion worldwide, Cameron’s sci-fi sequel has officially eclipsed “Titanic,” which is presently celebrating its 25th anniversary in theatres, to become the third-highest-grossing movie of all time.
Only “Avatar” from 2009 and “Avengers: Endgame” now score higher than “The Way of Water.”
“Puss in Boots: The Last Wish” from Universal, which has had an exceptionally long run in cinemas as the top family choice since late December, came in third.
It earned $5.3 during the weekend, bringing its weekend total to $16.7 million locally and nearly $400 million globally.
“Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” the top movie last week, dropped to fourth place with $5.5 million. The Channing Tatum follow-up brought in $18.1 million in just two weeks.
Only one new movie was widely released in opposition to “Quantumania.” At 2,281 locations, Open Road and Briarcliff Entertainment launched “Marlowe,” starring Liam Neeson as Raymond Chandler’s iconic private eye. But, “Marlowe” only raised $1.9 million.
Estimated ticket sales for Wednesday through Sunday at theatres in the United States and Canada, as reported by Comscore. Monday marks the release of the final domestic statistics.
- “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” $104 million.
- “Avatar: The Way of Water,” $6.1 million.
- “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” $5.5 million.
- “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” $5.3 million
- “Knock at the Cabin,” $3.9 million.
- “80 for Brady,” $3.6 million.
- “Titanic,” $2.3 million.
- “Marlowe,” $1.9 million.
- “Missing,” $1.7 million.
- “A Man Called Otto,” $1.6 million.
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