Marvel’s Ant-Man dominated the box office this weekend with a solid $58 million, while Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck impresses with $30.2 million.
While many predicted the Marvel flick to top $60+ million, Ant-Man ranks as the studio’s 12th consecutive first place debut, but also as one of the smallest opening gross numbers in comparison to their other films. Its opening number is similar to The Incredible Hulk’s $55 million debut, which concluded with a strong $134 million domestic cume.
“This is a great start, albeit not as big as some people said it would be, and Marvel has once again successfully expanded its stable of characters in a way that makes its universe fresh,” said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis.
‘Ant-Man’ Sizes Up Most Of The Marvel Competition
The action sci-fi feature, directed by Peyton Reed, features an ensemble cast that includes Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lilly and Corey Stoll. Audience members, who were 58 percent male and 59 percent adults, gave the film an A CinemaScore, while critics gave it a 79 percent “fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
The weekend’s other new release was Universal’s Trainwreck, which exceeded analysts’ predictions, landing in third place at the box office. The story of a commitment-phobic woman (played by Amy Schumer) who falls for a sports doctor (played by Bill Hader) received strong reviews, with an 85 percent “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoess from critics and an A minus CinemaScore from moviegoers.
Watch: Amy Schumer & Bill Hader Hilarious TRAINWRECK Interview (Uncensored)
The raunchy comedy, penned by Schumer herself, marks the second-biggest opening for director Judd Apatow, behind Knocked Up’s $30.7 million debut.
“Amy is an absolute budding film star. She’s already a star in the stand-up comedy world. And Judd has a way of finding talent, and imbuing characters with a real sense of sweetness. What you discover as the film plays on is a sweetness in her character. It’s really a romance comedy wrapped up in an R-rated comedy,” said Universal domestic distribution chief Nick Carpou.
Universal and Illumination Entertainment’s Minions took in $50.2 million in its second weekend, landing in second place at the box office. Thus far, the family feature has accumulated $216.7 million since its debut.
Meanwhile, finishing in fourth place is Pixar’s Inside Out with another $11.6 million, bringing its North American gross to $306.4 million, joining Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo as the third Pixar film to surpass the $300 million mark. In fifth place, Jurassic World added $11.4 million to its stellar domestic cume of $611.1 million, the fourth film in history to ever achieve this record.
Top 10 Films at Weekend Box Office: July 17-19
- Ant-Man — $58.0 million
- Minions — $50.2 million
- Trainwreck — $30.24 million
- Inside Out — $11.7 million
- Jurassic World — $11.4 million
- Terminator Genisys — $5.4 million
- Magic Mike XXL — $4.5 million
- The Gallows — $4 million
- Ted 2 — $2.7 million
- Mr. Holmes — $2.5 million
