Make that another #1 opener for Marvel, as Ant-Man and the Wasp easily took that spot. However, overall numbers were far more modest than recent entries. The sequel earned $75.8 million (great $18,025 per-venue average). Expectations for the sequel ranged between $75 and $85 million, with room for upside. After a $34 million opening day, many thought it would land higher than $85 million. But the film proved to be surprisingly front-loaded, off 30% on Saturday. For Marvel, this is their lowest debut since the first Ant-Man ($57 million) back in 2015. It's also their lowest opening for a sequel in their franchise history. However, any sequel that outpaces their predecessor (by 30% in this regard) is still a success in any book. It is important to mention as well that this sequel was never expected to come anywhere near the likes of Infinity War or Black Panther, which both exceeded $200 million in their opening weekends. And it's likely that some of the audience that saw both films already might have opted to skip this one.Thankfully, overseas numbers are also higher than the first film. Wasp managed to earn another $85 million overseas, for a $160 million worldwide launch (with still some territories left to open). Yes, we likely will have another $500+ million worldwide finisher for Marvel here. No need to panic. The budget was around $150 million, which is less than the last two films but still kinda expensive. Reviews were very good this time around (86% on Rotten Tomatoes), while audiences awarded the flick an "A-" CinemaScore. There is some competition coming up for families and action fans, but no superhero films coming up. This is going to be one of those cases where we will have to watch and see how this one plays out.
It was projected to be in third in estimates but wound up just narrowly coming out on top when actuals were released. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom fell out of the top spot, as expected, after two weeks on top. The dino sequel did not hold on particularly well, however, as it was down 53% to $28.6 million in its third weekend. In 17 days, it has earned a strong $333.4 million. If it can level off from here, it should finish above $400 million by the time its' finished. The bigger news is overseas, where it passed the $1 billion milestone midway through last week. Fallen Kingdom is at a very strong $1.06 billion with Japan still to open later this week.
Meanwhile, in a close third, Incredibles 2 continued to be, well, incredible. The well-received and long-awaited sequel was off a light 39% in its fourth weekend to $28.4 million. In the meantime, with a massive $503.8 million pick-up in 24 days, it has passed Finding Dory's $487 million finish to become the biggest animated movie of all-time domestically. Next weekend will bring competition in the form of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, but it should still continue to play through the remainder of the summer. Overseas, it continues to slowly roll out with $775 million picked up so far.
Opening, as expected, in fourth place was horror prequel The First Purge, which got off to a strong start before finishing the weekend more modestly. The latest installment in the horror franchise earned $17.4 million over the weekend (mild $5,732 per-venue average), and $31.3 million since its' Wednesday (July 4) start. With a 5-day debut, comparing to the other films in this franchise would be hard to do. But, with just a $13 million production budget, this is already a success. The other three Purge movies averaged a finish in the $65-70 million vicinity. If this one manages to come close, it would still be remarkable by all means. Audiences gave the flick a solid (for its genre) "B-" CinemaScore, while reviews were more on the mixed side (54% on Rotten Tomatoes). The better news is that there's no real competition for it in the coming weeks, which will help it.
Following its solid debut last weekend, Sicario: Day of the Soldado had the floor pulled out from underneath it. The action-heavy sequel was off 60% to $7.6 million, for a decent $35.6 million pick-up in 10 days (matching its production budget). It's earned $15 million overseas as well. Fellow sophomore holdover Uncle Drew didn't fare any better, down 57% to $6.6 million, as it decided to play more like a movie aimed at an African-American audience. The basketball comedy is at $29.9 million in 10 days.
The sleeper hit of this list is definitely Ocean's 8. The female ensemble comedy was off just 39% in its fifth weekend to $5.1 million, for a very solid $126.5 million in one month of release. It has passed the final grosses of both Oceans Twelve ($125 million) and Oceans Thirteen ($117 million), unadjusted for inflation of course. Fellow Warner Bros. flick Tag was down 49% in its fourth week to $3 million, for a decent $48.3 million pick-up in 24 days, and could get close to $60 million.
Expanding again to around 900 theaters altogether, Won't You Be My Neighbor? jumped up a spot to ninth place and earned another $2.6 million. The Fred Rogers documentary has earned a very solid $12.4 million in one month of release. Rounding out the Top 10 in its' eighth weekend (which announced its' Blu-ray/DVD release date yesterday) was Deadpool 2, which fell 53% to $1.7 million, an understandable drop considering the new superhero competition from Ant-Man. The sequel has pulled in a very good $314.5 million in 56 days, all against just a $110 million budget. Worldwide, its at $730 million, just $50 million off from the first film's $783 million final worldwide gross.
That's about it. Next weekend will bring added competition from a new animated offering, threequel Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, and Dwayne Johnson's latest action flick Skyscraper. It's looking to be a dogfight between those two and Ant-Man. Weekend predictions coming Thursday.
