Weekend Box Office: ‘Ant-Man’ Is Marvel Studios' Lowest Opening Movie Since ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ But Is Still No.1
“Ant-Man,” the latest addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, opened to $58 million this weekend, coming in slightly below expectations. Prior to opening, prerelease tracking estimated the film would earn $60 million to $65 million. Despite falling short, it was still No. 1 at the weekend box office and gave Marvel Studios’ its 12th consecutive No. 1 film.
Although it won the weekend box office, it is still the studio’s weakest opening since 2008’s “The Incredible Hulk,” which made $55.4 million in its first weekend. Right above it in Marvel’s filmography are “Captain America: The First Avenger” and “Thor,” which earned $65.1 million and $65.7 million, respectively, in their first weekends out.
It’s not surprising that this movie didn’t make a terribly big splash at the box office. First, it’s road to the screen wasn’t very smooth. In May 2014, ‘Ant-Man’ abruptly lost director Edgar Wright (“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”), who also co-wrote the original screenplay with Joe Cornish, right before filming was to begin. Peyton Reed was hired to replace Wright as director, and Adam McKay (“Anchorman”) and Paul Rudd, also the film’s lead, reworked the script. Furthermore, Ant-Man is definitely the most obscure Marvel superhero to be adapted for film yet.
‘Ant-Man’ is a heist movie with superheroes. It stars Rudd as Scott Lang (Rudd), a thief who is hired by Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to infiltrate Pym’s old company and destroy his research before its misuse brings chaos to the world. It also stars Corey Stoll and Evangeline Lilly.
While ‘Ant-Man’ might not have met expectations, “Trainwreck,” which stars and was written by Amy Schumer (“Inside Amy Schumer”) and was directed by Judd Apatow (“Knocked Up”), exceeded them. Schumer’s feature film debut came in at third place with $30.2 million, which is stronger than the predicted $20 million. This was Apatow’s best opening weekend since 2007’s “Knocked Up,” which opened to $30.7 million. Also, “Trainwreck” marks another win for Universal Studios, which is having a great summer at the box office and was the studio behind the movie.
"Trainwreck's" success at the box office is a strong conclusion to a great week for Amy Schumer. Her show, "Inside Amy Schumer," which she created, received seven Emmy Award nominations this week, including "Outstanding Variety Series" and an "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy" nomination for Schumer.
Coming in at second place this weekend was with $50.2 million was “Minions.” In its second weekend, the “Despicable Me” comedy dropped 57 percent from the $115.7 million it made in its opening weekend. Following behind this Universal and Illuminations animated comedy were Disney/Pixar’s “Inside Out” and Universal’s “Jurassic Park.”
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