'Ant-Man' sequel hoping to picnic on outsized $100M at weekend box office
Worried about the post-Avatar slowdown at movie theaters? Marvel's back to save the day.
The weekend brings the release of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (NYSE:DIS), the latest entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and new villain Jonathan Majors.
That should mean the best interval for movies in several weeks. The new Ant-Man film drew a heavy $17.5M in Thursday previews. That's a comparable figure to Marvel's own Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - a 2017 sequel that went on to gross $390M domestically and $864M worldwide - though it doesn't quite compare to some monster preview figures from the same label (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever pulled $28M in previews; Thor: Love and Thunder $29M, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness $36M).
It all sets up for the new Ant-Man to pull to the edge of a $100M opening for the standard three-day weekend, or some $95M on the low side of expectations. Counting the Monday President's Day holiday, it's aiming for $110M domestically.
The worldwide expectations range a little wider, with estimates reaching from $130M to up to $190M, depending on where it lands in China.
In any case, with rival pictures having cleared the decks, it's an easy winner for the weekend up against last week's leader, Magic Mike's Last Dance (NASDAQ:WBD). And still gathering crumbs of various sizes are Avatar: The Way of Water (DIS), 80 for Brady (NASDAQ:PARA) (PARAA) and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish and Knock at the Cabin (CMCSA).
Cinema tickers: AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC); Cineworld (OTCPK:CNNWQ); Cinemark (CNK); (IMAX); Marcus (MCS); Reading International (RDI); Cineplex (CGX:CA); National CineMedia (NCMI).