'Ant-Man' crawls to another movie lead - but has to hold off a 'Cocaine Bear'
Disney's (NYSE:DIS) latest Marvel splash held the No. 1 spot at the box office over the weekend - but not until after a now-typical second-weekend fall-off, and it was pressed by a movie focused sharply on a drug-addled bear.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (DIS) topped the weekend in its sophomore outing with $32.2M, though that represented a near-70% drop-off from an opening-weekend $106.1M (three-day total), a record decline for a Marvel opening.
And that has been the story of Disney's box-office dominance: The part attributable to Marvel Studios means movies that need to open big because of quick drop-offs. (Sibling film Avatar: The Way of Water, by contrast, opened to a good-sized $134.1M but has been a far more consistent money-maker over the longer term.)
Pressing Ant-Man for dominance over the weekend was another part of the animal kingdom. Cocaine Bear (NASDAQ:CMCSA) - a comedy/horror film that describes its star in an uncomplicated title - grossed $23.1M, good enough for an easy second place, and perhaps making a play for No. 1 next weekend.
Reviews are mixed for the film, about a bear who embarks on a cocaine-fueled murder rampage, but it's tracking toward profit on a relatively low budget of $35M.
In third place was Jesus Revolution (LGF.A) (LGF.B), a 1970s story of the revitalization of a California church, which drew some very strong audience word-of-mouth and a debut of $15.5M.
Rounding out the top six were the Avatar sequel (DIS), with $4.7M; Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (CMCSA), with $4.1M; and Magic Mike's Last Dance (WBD), with $1.9M.
Avatar: The Way of Water's moves on the all-time chart may be slowing to a close. The film is No. 9 all-time domestically with $665.4M (Titanic is at No. 8 with $673.8M), and No. 3 all-time worldwide (with $2.267B behind Avengers: Endgame's $2.799M).
Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWQ); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).