It was a rough second weekend for Marvel Studios’ “Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania.” The MCU sequel saw one of Marvel’s biggest drops ever for its second weekend, dropping an estimated 70% for a total of $32.2 million for its second frame, per Deadline.
Elsewhere, the new Univeral Pictures horror comedy, “Cocaine Bear,” had an impressive debut, coming in above expectations for its opening weekend.
Marvel’s ‘Quantumania’ Has A Big Second Weekend Dropoff
If current estimates hold, this would be the largest second-weekend dropoff ever for the MCU. The big dropoff was likely somewhat to be expected with the film’s poor reviews, scoring 48% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an underwhelming audience grade of a B with CinemaScore. With a reported budget of at least $200 million, that will mean “Quantumania” will have a bigger climb to breaking even.
Working in the favor of Marvel is the overseas performance of the film. The threequel is currently sitting at about $363 million worldwide. It will likely surpass well over $500 million worldwide when all is said and done. Also, the film is currently at about $167 million in its domestic total. That means it will likely surpass or finish ahead of the previous film, “Ant-Man and The Wasp,” which finished with $216 million domestically. However, the prospect of surpassing the worldwide total of the second film at $622 million seems less likely. The first “Ant-Man” movie, released in 2015, finished with $180.2 million at the domestic box office and $519 million worldwide. It seems an absolute certainty that “Quantumania” will surpass those numbers.
Marvel Studios will get another chance to redeem itself at the box office in a few months when “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” releases in theaters on May 5. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2,” released in 2017, grossed $389 million domestically and $863 million worldwide. With this being the final installment written and directed by James Gunn, along with this being the final iteration of the current Guardians cast, expectations will likely be very high for the next MCU threequel.
Coming at No. 2 for the weekend was the new Elizabeth Banks horror-comedy, “Cocaine Bear,” which finished ahead of initial projections at $23 million. With a budget in the $30-$35 million range, it will be an assured hit for Universal and a box office success. Loosely based on a true story and set in the 1980s, the film did decently with critics, scoring 70% on Rotten Tomatoes. With a title like “Cocaine Bear,” it definitely appears that moviegoers know what they were getting into, and it appears the movie delivered that to audiences.
The faith-based drama, “Jesus Revolution,” released by Lionsgate, also had a strong opening weekend, bringing in $15.5 million. The film came in third place this weekend. Coming in at fourth was James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The sequel continues to show marvelous legs later into its initial run. The film has now grossed $665.3 million domestically and $2.267 billion worldwide. It came in fourth with $4.7 million over the weekend.
Last but not least, at No. 5, was DreamWorks Animation’s “Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.” The animated phenomenon brought in another $4.1 million over the weekend, bringing its domestic total to $173.4 million and $442 million worldwide. Considering the film only had a paltry $12 million for its opening three-day weekend, its continued performance has been nothing short of spectacular. It will more than likely finish just under $200 million domestically and well over $450 million worldwide.
