Marvel blockbuster Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania delivered exhibitors a box office boost last weekend, with its opening the most successful in the Ant-Man franchise so far.
Directed by Peyton Reed, the film reunites Paul Rudd as Ant-Man/Scott Lang and Evangeline Lilly as The Wasp/Hope van Dyne as they explore the Quantum Realm along with their family and face Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors.
The Disney/Marvel title debuted to $6.5 million from 828 screens, and with Wednesday night previews, stands at $7.5 million. It was the weekend’s clear no. 1, capturing 58 per cent market share.
Quantumania‘s result is ahead of the opening of the 2015 original Ant-Man, which bowed to $5.5 million (finishing at $15.8 million) and the 2018 sequel, Ant-Man and the Wasp, which opened at $6.3 million (finishing at $19.8 million). However, it trails behind the most recent MCU title, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, which started at $9.4 million from a similar number of screens.
Worldwide, Ant-Man 3 has tallied $US225 million so far, with a three-day $US104 million result in North America – it’s currently President’s Day weekend in the US, so that number should rise.
Village Cinemas national programming manager Geoff Chard tells IF that while Quantumania‘s performance is on the lower side of the most recent MCU films, it should still be considered a respectable result.
“It’s now tracking towards a solid mid-$20m lifetime result, and should finish ahead of both previous Ant-Man titles,” he predicts.
Globally, around 10 per cent of earnings on the title have come via IMAX in 3D. At IMAX Melbourne, acting general manager Jeremy Fee tells IF the film is on track to outperform the previous two instalments of the trilogy.
“It’s another fantastic result for IMAX and Disney with Avatar: The Way of Water 3D still performing strongly nine weeks after its release and recently taking the spot as IMAX Melbourne’s second highest-grossing film of all time,” Fee says.
Despite Ant-Man 3 coming in ahead of its predecessors, some exhibitors had thought the film would have had a bigger start.
“Not as strong a start as we’d hoped for with Ant-Man. Nevertheless turnout was enthusing,” Wallis Cinemas programming manager David Simpson tells IF.
“Not a lot of takers for the 3D, regrettably, as this is how it needs to be seen.”
Majestic Cinemas CEO Kieren Dell adds: “Given the $100m+ opening in the US we probably had expectations a bit higher.”
The only other new release to make the top 10 nationally was Umbrella Entertainment’s R18+ slasher Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey, made by Rhys Frake-Waterfield after the rights to the children’s character entered the public domain. Punters were seemingly undeterred by the woeful 6 per cent critical approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the horror bowing to $158,395 from 85 screens for a screen average of $1,863. With previews, it stands at $222,205.
Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey debuted about $1,000 in front of Universal’s double Oscar-nominee Women Talking. It opened at $157,132 from 128 screens, landing at no. 11.
Set in 2010, Women Talking depicts the true story of women in an isolated religious community who must grapple with mass sexual assault. Cinema Nova was the top site nationally for the Sarah Polley-directed film, up for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. CEO Kristian Connelly tells IF it performed at the higher end of its expectations.
“The Women Talking result came as a pleasant surprise as the film, despite its confined approach and challenging themes, received a wider release than might have been anticipated (UPI foreshadowed this to exhibition),” he says.
Overall, the top 20 titles amassed $10.6 million, up 54 per cent on the previous weekend, according to Numero figures. While one of the quieter weekends this year so far, the result is right in line with this time last year.
Of the holdovers, Warner Bros.’ Magic Mike’s Last Dance dipped 39 per cent in its second go round, netting another $1 million to advance to $4.2 million. Australia is third highest grossing international territory behind the UK and Germany.
Disney’s Avatar: The Way of Water now stands at $91.5 million after 10 weekends, having earned another $637,985. Worldwide, the sequel is now the third-highest grossing film of all time, having just overtaken another James Cameron film, Titanic; its cume is a whopping $US2.243 billion.
The next best performing title was Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, now at $20.7 million for Universal after eight weekends, having gathered another $362,496.
Re-entering the top 10 last weekend was the Cate Blanchett-led Tár, with Universal adding an extra 38 screens nationally. The Todd Field drama, nominated for six Oscars collected $231,795 in its fourth frame – a boost of 30 per cent – bringing it to $1.7 million.
Not all of Tár‘s boost can be attributed to the extra screens, with the film also continuing to perform strongly at upscale venues. At Cinema Nova in Melbourne, the film was up 6 per cent on the previous frame, and it also held well at the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Sydney, with GM Alex Temesvari telling IF it looks to have “real staying power”. With Blanchett collected another accolade in a BAFTA this morning, the film is poised to continue to perform well in the lead up to the Oscars.
Universal stablemate, M Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin, was just behind Tár, ringing up $201,691 in its third weekend to move to $1.8 million.
Another re-entry into the top 10 last weekend was Sony’s A Man Called Otto, bolstered by Moonlight Cinema screenings. The Tom Hanks drama collected $192,405 in its eighth orbit, taking it to $7.5 million overall.
Connelly notes the strong result for the film speaks to it playing to both an older demo and regional audiences.
“Both are slower to attend releases than those attracted to franchise titles. The national result, blitzing pro-rata, is a tribute to the Sony team,” he says.
Madman added 32 screens for The Whale last weekend. The Darren Aronofsky drama, for which Brendan Fraser is nominated for an Oscar, took in $179,282 to move to $1.5 million.
After four weekends, Studiocanal rom-com What’s Love Got to Do With It? stands just shy of $3 million, with weekend receipts tallying $172,083.
This weekend sees the release of a number of anticipated titles, including Universal’s dark comedy actioner Cocaine Bear and Roadshow’s older-demo pitched Fisherman’s Friends 2.