As expected, Marvel's Ant-Man took the #1 spot, but the latest superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe didn't break out on the level of other introductory efforts of the film label. Ant-Man managed a $57.2 million opening, for a per-venue average of a good $14,840 from 3,856 locations. As far as the MCU is concerned, Ant-Man opened slightly ahead of The Incredible Hulk ($55 million) and behind Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger (both opened to $65 million). Its also only a small fraction of Avengers: Age of Ultron's massive $191 million start from May. However, this is far from a bad start, and is also a little bit ahead of The Wolverine ($53 million) and X-Men: First Class ($55 million). Reviews were very good (79% on Rotten Tomatoes, in line with Iron Man 3 and ahead of Age of Ultron and Thor: The Dark World), while the CinemaScore was a strong "A". Competition is going to be a factor, as Pixels, Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation and especially The Fantastic Four will cut into some of its audience.Overseas, Ant-Man got off to a very good start, $56 million from half of the international marketplace. That came in ahead of the first Thor and Captain America movies by around 25-30% on average in each territory. Those films finished between $375 and $400 million worldwide. With Asia much more expanded now, Ant-Man has a chance at reaching the $500 million mark worldwide.
With competition for older kids coming in, last week's champ Minions fell a steep 57% from its huge opening earlier this week. The hit spin-off earned $49.3 million in its second weekend, for a strong $215.8 million gross in just 10 days. Minions is ahead of Despicable Me 2's $198 million 10-day gross, though that movie opened on a Wednesday and as at $228 million by its second Sunday. Minions may or may not hold well in the next few weeks as Pixels may also take away some older kids next week.
Opening at #3 was the latest from director Judd Apatow, Trainwreck, which managed a solid $30.1 million, for a per-venue average of a solid $9,531 from 3,158 locations. For Apatow, this is his second-largest debut, just behind Knocked Up. Trainwreck came at the high-end of expectations, which had projected a debut in the $20-30 million range. It also is a nice film debut for comedian Amy Schumer, who tried to make the leap to movies with this. Reviews were great (85% on Rotten Tomatoes), while the CinemaScore was an "A-". A lack of competition for 20-30 year olds should help this play well through the remainder of the summer.
Remaining neck-and-neck in their fifth and sixth weekends, Inside Out and Jurassic World both continued to play well. Pixar's animated hit was off a solid 35% to $11.5 million, while the blockbuster reboot of the dino franchise was off 37% to $11.45 million. In one month of release, Inside Out has earned a massive $306.2 million, making it just the eighth animated film (and 3rd Pixar movie) in history to pass the triple-century mark domestically. Meanwhile, Jurassic passed the $600 million mark in record time, and has earned a fantabulous $611.2 million in 37 days. Jurassic currently ranks as the fourth-biggest movie of all-time in the U.S. and will pass The Avengers within the next week to claim third place. Overseas, it will also pass The Avengers in the next week to claim third place, as it is at an astounding $1.513 billion worldwide and still going.
The competition from Ant-Man hurt Terminator: Genysis, which plummeted 61% to $5.4 million in its third weekend. The reboot has earned just $80.6 million in 19 days, and is on track to finish around $95 million. Overseas is fine, with nearly $200 million picked up so far with Asia still yet to open. Magic Mike XXL took a hit from Trainwreck, falling 54% to $4.4 million, for a decent $58.6 million pick-up in 19 days. Channing Tatum's raunchy sequel should close out near $70 million.
Following its OK debut last weekend, The Gallows fell 59% to $4 million, for a mediocre $18 million pick-up in 10 days, and may finish with around $25 million. That's not a great result, but it should turn a small profit thanks to a tiny budget. Ted 2 continued to fall fast, off 54% in its' fourth frame due to competition from fellow Universal pic Trainwreck. Seth McFarlane's sequel earned $2.6 million, for a disappointing $77.4 million gross in 24 days with not much more to go.
Opening in 10th place was, for the second-straight week, a foreign import. Bajrangi Bhaijaan opened to $2.6 million from just 259 locations, for a $10,239 per-venue average. How this holds up in the future is currently in question.
Next weekend brings a fairly competitive frame consisting of Adam Sandler's Pixels, book adaptation Paper Towns and the well-reviewed boxing drama Southpaw. How will they fare as the summer season begins to head toward its wind-down?? We shall find out.
