Paul Rudd’sAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaappears to have kicked off Phase 5 with a financial bang, but time will tell how it holds. Critics and audiences have been divided on Kang the Conqueror’s true introduction, but given how much the film made over its first four days, there’s little reason for Disney or Kevin Feige to worry.
The first twoAnt-Manfilms carried relatively modest price tags of about $130 million each. However,Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniahas a significantly higher tag of $200 million. This means the film needs to clear at least $600 million worldwide after production and marketing costs.
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There’s reason to believeAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniawill hit that number and then some. PerDeadline, director Reed’s third MCU go-round netted $357 million worldwide after its first four days on screens, including Monday’s U.S. Presidents' Day holiday. This is noteworthy, considering $118 million came from domestic screens, whereasAnt-Manonly opened with $57.2 million in 2015, andAnt-Man and the Waspopened with $75.8 million in 2018.
Even if focusing on the domestic haul, that $600 million worldwide looks doable. In the states, the first film tripled its domestic opening weekend and then some by the time it left theaters.Ant-Man and the Waspfell a bit short of that, butAnt-Man 3is a different moviefromAnt-Man and the Wasp. That second film (not unlike the first) was notably restrained in comparison to its MCU brethren. However,Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniahas a larger scope than those first two entries combined. And that’s precisely how it’s being marketed.
Ant-Man 3feels just as much likePhase 5 Kickoff: The Movieas it doesAnt-Man 3,and while that does arguably make the third installment the weakest of the trilogy, it’s also an event film. Given that, and the fact that the biggestmovie debuting its sophomore weekend isCocaine Bear, there’s plenty of reason to expectQuantumaniato domestically triple its three-day debut of $104 million, if not the four-day $118 million.
WillAnt-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniabeat the odds of its small-sized hero becoming a $1 billion worldwide big hit? Probably not, but the safe money’s on a $650-$700 million worldwide tally once all the screens go black. Furthermore,Jonathan Majors' Kang has a multi-billion dollar MCU future, so it’s good the actor only almost walked out of his first Marvel audition.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniais now playing in theaters.
