BOX OFFICE: ANT-MAN Kicks Off North American Run With Solid $6.4 Million On Thursday
While it's fallen short of what Guardians of the Galaxy earned when it debuted on Thursday evening last year, Ant-Man has still kicked off its box office run with a good $6.4 million. Hit the jump for details on that and how the movie is expected to perform this weekend...
Marvel's Ant-Man earned an impressive $6.4 million during late night showings on Thursday, an impressive - if not amazing - start for the finale to Phase 3. Guardians of the Galaxy (which also introduced relatively obscure characters and had a strong comedic tone) took $11.2 million last year and ended up far exceeding expectations. It doesn't seem like Ant-Man will do the same, but The Hollywood Reporter is confident that it's stil going to end the weekend with between $60 million - $65 million. That's far from bad and similar to the openings of many of the Phase 1 origin stories like Captain America: The First Avenger and Thor.
Others believe the latest Marvel movie could earn less, but it faces a lot of competition thanks to Minions and the R-Rated Trainwreck. Guardians of the Galaxy didn't have that same problem and also had the advantage of having a sequel announced shortly before it was released, something which brought the release a lot of attention at the time. As of right now, Ant-Man is certified "Fresh" on Rotten Tomatoes with 78% and a consensus which reads: "Led by a charming performance from Paul Rudd, Ant-Man offers Marvel thrills on an appropriately smaller scale -- albeit not as smoothly as its most successful predecessors."