NEW YORK – Despite its heroes' diminutive size, "Ant-Man and the Wasp" opened with typical Marvel might at the box office, with an estimated $76 million in ticket sales.
According to studio estimates Sunday, the "Ant-Man" sequel, starring Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly, easily surpassed the $57 million debut of the 2015 original in North America. The 20th film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe – and the 20th to debut at No. 1 at the box office – "Ant-Man and the Wasp" comes on the heels of two mammoth Marvel successes this year: "Black Panther" and "Avengers: Infinity War."
While the first "Ant-Man" had a rocky road to release after a late change in director, the rollout of the sequel, directed by Peyton Reed, was smoother. Cathleen Taff, head of distribution for Disney, credits a marketing campaign that played up the film as a modest, funny and lighthearted change of pace for Marvel following the grandiosity of "Infinity War."
"It came in at the high end of our range and definitely sized-up the sequel," says Taff.
"Ant-Man and the Wasp" may have performed well enough to firmly establish its place among Marvel's more familiar superheroes. Reviews were good (86 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences gave it an A-minus on CinemaScore. Ticket sales overseas added another $85 million.
Befitting the summer season, the weekend's top five films were all sequels. The weekend's other new wide release was "The First Purge," the fourth film in the low-budget horror franchise about an annual 12-hour period of lawlessness. With July Fourth falling on a Wednesday and thus depriving Hollywood of a holiday weekend, Universal opted to release "The First Purge" on Wednesday.
The two films that trailed "Ant-Man" at the weekend box office hit milestones. Disney's "Incredibles 2" passed "Finding Dory" to become Pixar's top-grossing film domestically, not accounting for inflation. It earned $29 million in its fourth weekend, finishing in second place and bringing its domestic total to $504 million ($773 million worldwide).
"The First Purge" made its debut with $32 million for the five-day frame, and in fourth place for the weekend with $17.2 million. Particularly following 2016's "The Purge: Election Year," the franchise has made satirical jabs at social commentary. "The First Purge," a prequel, focuses on the ritual's origins as a method of culling minorities.
"The 'Purge' franchise continually comments on issues that are current in society, obviously through a kind of dark and distorted lens," says Jim Orr, distribution chief for Blumhouse's distribution partner, Universal.
With $28.6 million for third place in its third weekend, "Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom" crossed $1 billion worldwide.
Rounding out the top five: Sequel "Sicario: Day of the Soldado," Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro's crime drama, finished fifth with $7.3 million.
As a clear alternative to the multiplex offerings, the Fred Rogers documentary "Won't You Be My Neighbor?" continued to perform as an art-house sensation. Ranking ninth for the weekend (in between "Tag" and "Deadpool 2"), it earned $2.6 million in just under 900 theaters for the weekend. With $12.4 million in five weeks, it's the year's top documentary at the box office, edging out the Ruth Bader Ginsburg doc "RBG."
More: 5 things we learned from the documentary 'Won't You Be My Neighbor?'
Related: 'RBG': How Ruth Bader Ginsburg became a legit pop-culture icon
Boots Riley's surreal satire "Sorry to Bother You," starring Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson, made one of the year's best debuts, per-screen. It opened with $717,000 on 16 screens, good for a per-screen average of $44,800. The directorial debut of the hip-hop pioneer Riley, "Sorry to Bother You" is about a black telemarketer who's catapulted into success after he adopts a "white voice."
Final figures are expected Monday.
Contributing: Kim Willis
