Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania grew to gargantuan proportions at the weekend box office with an estimated $104 million take.
The third Ant-Man film had the best opening of the series, racing past the original and sequel ($57 and $75 million respectively) in spite of less-favorable ratings and exit polls when compared to the first two movies.
Quantumania currently sits at 47% on the Tomatometer and also earned a “B” on Cinemascore. Ant-Man 3 does have an 84% score on Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score, which shows a disconnect between critics and those polled exiting the theater this weekend and fans motivated to turn in their own reviews to bolster the film’s reputation. If the 47% rating holds, it will end up tied with The Eternals for the worst Tomatometer rating so far for an MCU film.
Overseas, fans also turned out in droves, brining in an additional $239 million for a worldwide box office launch of $357 million.
The debut of Kang the Conqueror certainly drove the Marvel faithful to theaters this weekend, anticipating his role as the chief villain in the next phase of the the MCU, but will fans continue to show up for Quantumania over the next few weeks?
With little competition on the horizon, and Avatar: The Way of Water’s declining returns (finishing second this week with $6.1 million for a $658 million domestic gross), the diminutive heroes should be able to top Ant-Man and the Wasp’s $216 domestic total before the film leaves theaters in late March/early April.
Check back next week to see how the MCU’s latest blockbuster holds up at the weekend box office.