Despite a steep box office drop after Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s second weekend, Hollywood analysts say there’s no need for Marvel to panic.
Marvel’s latest MCU release, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, had a big box office drop over its second weekend, but Hollywood analysts suggest it’s not time for Marvel to panic.
The third installment in the Ant-Man franchise amassed $105 million in its opening weekend and followed up the next weekend with only $32 million in profit. Despite having the first $100 million debut of 2023, Variety reports that the 69% drop is Marvel’s biggest second-week crash to date. Despite this, Marvel insiders have stated they are unconcerned with the significant box office loss, and Hollywood analysts seem to agree.
Why Marvel Shouldn’t Panic About Ant-Man 3’s Box Office
Paul Dergarabedian, a senior analyst for Comscore, offered Marvel a silver lining to this record shift in box office success, suggesting that “movies that open with over $100 million are generally front-loaded.” Derbarabedian hints that, while the most recent box office numbers are not great, the overall success of Quantumania‘s theatrical run cannot be determined this early.
Another analyst with Exhibitor Relations, Jeff Bock, points to Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania’s opening weekend success when sharing why the week two drop is no cause for concern. While the film has also been ladled with poor critic reviews and audience scores resulting in the lowest MCU score on Rotten Tomatoes, it still surpassed the first two Ant-Man films in opening weekend box office numbers. Quantumania also maintained the top box office spot since the premiere, beating out Cocaine Bear‘s opening weekend.
Quantumania Establishes Kang the Conqueror
As the first film released in the MCU’s Phase Five, Quantumania was tasked with diving deeper into the multiverse and introducing the next big villain going up against the Avengers. A follow-up to 2018’s Ant-Man and The Wasp and picking up from the events of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, the film sees Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly and Michael Douglas reprising their roles as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, Hope van Dyne/The Wasp and Hank Pym, respectively. The newest installment also introduces Kathryn Newton’s teenage Cassie Lang, a member of the Young Avengers in Marvel Comics. With Jonathan Majors also reprising his role of Kang the Conqueror – who we first saw in Loki – Ant-Man 3 sets off a series of events that alters the MCU and creates massive consequences for the MCU’s heroes.
Despite box office blows and mixed reviews, producer Stephen Broussard confirms that a fourth Ant-Man installment is in the works, with conversations occurring before the threequel’s release. No further information on the next Ant-Man adventure has been confirmed.
