Marvel Studios' first Phase 5 film, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, arrived in theaters on Friday, and while Peyton Reed's threequel is already closing in on $100 million globally, it's now expected to fall short of those initial $280M opening weekend estimates.
According to Deadline, Quantumania is currently sitting at $98.6M, and should reach $225M worldwide by Monday. It's not a massive difference, but nor is it insignificant.
There tends to be a perception that the MCU is somewhat critic-proof, but the studio is not used to dealing with full-on negative reviews. Eternals was the first movie in the franchise to drop to "rotten" status on Rotten Tomatoes, and underperformed. Ant-Man 3 is hovering around the same grade on the review aggregator (48%), and might well follow suit.
Quantumania also received a B CinemaScore - again, only the second MCU release to do so after Eternals.
Even so, audiences do seem to be responding more positively than critics overall, so we'll see if the sci-fi adventure manages to maintain some box office footing over the next few weeks.
Tell us, have you been to see Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania yet, or did the reviews put you off? Drop us a comment down below.
Super-Hero partners Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) and Hope van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) return to continue their adventures as Ant-Man and the Wasp. Together, with Hope’s parents Janet van Dyne (Michelle Pfeiffer) and Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), and Scott’s daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton), the family finds themselves exploring the Quantum Realm, interacting with strange new creatures and embarking on an adventure that will push them beyond the limits of what they thought possible.
Directed by Peyton Reed and produced by Kevin Feige and Stephen Broussard, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania also stars Jonathan Majors as Kang, David Dastmalchian as Veb, Katy O'Brian as Jentorra, William Jackson Harper as Quaz and Bill Murray as Lord Krylar.