Marvel's Ant-Man and the Wasp had a solid opening weekend, debuting on July 6, and taking in over $76 million domestically the following few days. While that is still a decent weekend, doing better than a few other summer blockbusters, how does it compare to the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
In the United States, MCU movies have taken in more than $2.5 billion, in total, for their opening weekends, according to the stats on BoxOfficeMojo. On average, that's around $125 million for each movie during the first few days after its release. That bar is pretty high for a franchise compared to others in the US. The Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies, on average, brought in $65 million per movie. The Harry Potter series took in a little over $100 million for its opening weekends, and the biggest franchise not involving superheroes or magic, The Fast and the Furious, brought in $76 million on average.
While Ant-Man and the Wasp brought in $161 million its opening weekend, $85 million of that was made outside of the United States. Even crazier is the fact that it still hasn't opened in some markets, like the UK, which won't be able to see the movie until August 3. However, compared to the two other MCU films that debuted in 2018, Ant-Man and the Wasp's $76 million isn't as amazing as Infinity War's $257 million or Black Panther's $202 million for their opening weekends.
When it comes down to it, Ant-Man and the Wasp's first weekend is on the lower end of the MCU opening weekend spectrum. It ranks 16 out of 20 of all the opening weekend takes from MCU movies in the United States, beating out Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Incredible Hulk, and Ant-Man. It's also grossed the least amount of money for a MCU sequel.
However, the movie will be fine in the long run. Whether moviegoers have blockbuster fatigue after a summer filled with Infinity War, Deadpool 2, Incredibles 2, and Solo, or people may still be digesting everything that happened at the end of the latest Avengers film, Ant-Man and the Wasp has the potential to do extremely well in the longrun, as the movie has been well-received by critics and fans. GameSpot's Mike Rougeau said in this review, "Ant-Man and the Wasp is hilarious, fun, silly, self aware, and creative."
Here's a ranking of every MCU movie US opening weekend:
- Avengers: Infinity War: $257,698,183
- Marvel's The Avengers: $207,438,708
- Black Panther: $202,003,951
- Avengers: Age of Ultron: $191,271,109
- Captain America: Winter Soldier: $179,139,142
- Iron Man 3: $174,144,585
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: $146,510,104
- Iron Man 2: $128,122,480
- Thor: Ragnarok: $122,744,989
- Spider-Man Homecoming: $117,027,503
- Iron Man: $98,618,668
- Captain America: Civil War: $95,023,721
- Guardians of the Galaxy: $94,320,883
- Thor: The Dark World: $85,737,841
- Doctor Strange: $85,058,311
- Ant-Man and the Wasp: $76,030,000
- Thor: $65,723,338
- Captain America: The First Avenger: $65,058,524
- Ant-Man: $57,225,526
- The Incredible Hulk: $55,414,050
Interested in more on Ant-Man and the Wasp? Check out the comic book history of the character, including others who wore the mantle, other movies about people growing and shrinking, a bunch of Easter eggs in Ant-Man and the Wasp, and every Marvel movie ranked by box office gross.
