Ant-Man Wins the Box Office, But Has Second Lowest Marvel Studios Opening Ever
Over the weekend, the biggest question was once again, “Could Marvel continue its run with its newest film Ant-Man?” Even more than Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man was seen as the biggest risk Marvel has taken in regards to introducing new characters. Ant-Man is only known by those who read comics (or watch cartoons in which he was featured in) and even then, the idea of a shrinking, ant-controlling, superhero is kind of weird for the casual audience. Well, the good news is, that Ant-Man did indeed get No.1 at the box office this weekend, even in the face of tough competition such as Trainwreck and last week’s champion Minions. However, the total for the weekend was a bit lower than many analysts expected.
According to RenTrak, the film made $58 million over the weekend, which a good total for many films. However, for a Marvel film? It’s actually the lowest opening for Marvel Studios since The Incredible Hulk all the way back in 2008. And if you recall, Guardians of the Galaxy last year made $94 million in its opening weekend. Earlier in the year, Captain America: The Winter Soldier grossed $95 million in its opening weekend.
So what happened? Well, call it cautiousness about Ant-Man, or the fact that people might have Marvel fatigue in a way, they just didn’t go as much. It’ll be very curious to see how this result plays out into future Marvel movies.
The next Marvel Studios release is Captain America: Civil War, which arrives on May 6, 2016. This will be followed by the Doctor Strange movie, which hits on November 6, 2016.