“Cocaine Bear” Sniffed Up $23.1 Million In Its Opening Weekend

(CTN NEWS) – According to studio estimates released on Sunday, the outrageous R-rated horror comedy “Cocaine Bear” made $23.1 million in its first weekend, while Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” saw an extremely rapid decline in its second weekend.

With a projected $32.2 million in ticket sales in North American theatres, “Quantumania” remained in the first place.

The “Ant-Man” sequel, however, suffered from some of the poorest reviews and audience ratings in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it had a significant 69.7% drop in its second weekend.

It fell more quickly than “Black Widow” (67.8%), a pandemic release that had its home premiere at the same time, making it the biggest slide for an MCU movie.

Instead, “Cocaine Bear” from Universal Pictures ravaged theatres, earning noticeably better than expected.

‘Cocaine Bear’ Based On True Events

“Cocaine Bear,” which cost around $35 million to produce and was directed by Elizabeth Banks, generated a lot of excitement just because of its catchy name and its viral trailer.

Jimmy Warden’s “Cocaine Bear,” which was written by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse,” “The Lego Movie”) and was directed by Jimmy Warden, succeeded in turning an odd factual story into a lighthearted box office success.

It is based on the true account of a black bear that weighed 175 pounds (79 kilograms) and perished in the Georgia mountains in 1985 after consuming cocaine from a duffle bag that had dropped from a smuggler’s plane.

The drug trafficker, a former narcotics investigator for Kentucky, died in Tennessee after parachuting there.

More than 90 million people saw the “Cocaine Bear” teaser that was shown prior to the Super Bowl, according to Universal, and it went viral on social media. Yet, translating the “can you believe that’s a real movie” buzz to the box office is not always successful.

In 2006, the film “Snakes on a Plane,” which many compared to “Cocaine Bear,” debuted with $13.9 million.

Cocaine Bear And Ant Man In Competition

Jim Orr, the head of Universal distribution, stated that “audiences discovered this extremely outrageous, hysterical comedy that our filmmaker Elizabeth Banks provided.”

“The movie completely lives up to its absurd idea. They wanted to visit the theatre and enjoy themselves.”

Despite conflicting reviews from reviewers and a “B-” CinemaScore from viewers, “Cocaine Bear” was able to outperform. 63% of ticket buyers were between the ages of 18 and 34, and 59% of them were men.

Overseas sales increased by $5.3 million. Internationally, “Quantumania” is more quickly surpassing “Cocaine Bear,” which earned $46.4 million over the weekend.

Almost the perfect counterprogramming to “Cocaine Bear,” Lionsgate’s “Jesus Revolution” also had a successful opening weekend. The movie, which is also based on a true tale, stars Joel Courtney as the youth minister and Kelsey Grammer as a California minister.

It dramatizes the late 1960s and early 1970s Christian hippie movement.

It made $15.5 million in its first weekend and early screenings. “Jesus Revolution,” a Kingdom Story Company production, quickly surpassed expectations and won over Christian audiences. A+ CinemaScore was given to it. a

With the release of Michael B. Jordan’s “Creed III,” there should be a new box office champion the following week.

According to Comscore, the weekend’s estimated ticket sales for cinemas in the United States and Canada. On Monday, the final domestic data will be revealed.

1. “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” $32.2 million
2. “Cocaine Bear,” $23.1 million.
3. “Jesus Revolution,” $15.5 million.
4. “Avatar: The Way of Water,” $4.7 million.
5. “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish,” $4.1 million.
6. “Magic Mike’s Last Dance,” $3 million.
7. “Knock at the Cabin,” $1.9 million.
8. “80 for Brady,” $1.8 million.
9. “Missing,” $1 million.
10. “A Man Called Otto,” $850,000.

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