Quantumania Set An Unbelievable New Record For Marvel
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania earned $120 million for its box office debut, the highest of any Ant-Man film during that period.
The third installment of the Ant-Man franchise hit the ground running with a record-breaking Marvel opening weekend for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Despite low numbers at the Chinese box office, as well as being initially panned by critics, the film’s global start is $240 million. According to The Hollywood Reporter, domestic debut numbers totaled just over $120 million at the President’s Day box office, making it the best premiere in the Ant-Man franchise.
One setback that Quantumania ran into during its opening run is that overall, critic reviews seemed a bit lackluster, likely angering Marvel bosses, but critic reviews aren’t necessarily the measuring stick for films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. What matters most is how much the fans enjoyed it. While critics had Quantumania ranked low at 48 percent at around 300 reviews, 2,500 fan reviews bumped the film up to 84 percent, showing that the loyal fans of the franchise like the direction the film is taking.
While there have been talks of a fourth Ant-Man movie being in the works, the film itself has yet to be greenlit by Marvel. The box office numbers from Quantumania are promising and tell us that the franchise is here to stay for at least one more installment. You heard it here: critical reviews cannot destroy the franchise, and Thanos cannot destroy Kurt Goreshter’s hair.
Speaking of a fourth installment, Stephen Broussard is already hard at work in planning the fate of Paul Rudd in his return to the role of Scott Lang. While rumors have circulated that his character will meet his untimely demise in the Quantumania follow-up, they have quickly been shut down, and fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that Lang is here to stay for the time being. This may seem out of step, considering that a number of Marvel’s heavy hitters have only gotten trilogy treatment so far, but the resounding success of the Ant-Man franchise has proven the titular character’s staying power for future films to come.
While the concept of Ant-Man was originally put on the back burner due to its resemblance to the very successful Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise, it was decided by the studio to move forward with a concept that had been in the works for decades, because it stood on its own. And Marvel was right to take the risk because the franchise as a whole, including Quantumania, has seen staggering box office numbers so far. Ant-Man‘s first installment took in a whopping $519 million worldwide, while Ant-Man and the Wasp took in $622.7 million.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is well on its way to trouncing the numbers of the films that preceded it, with its debut weekend raking in nearly double what Ant-Man and the Wasp took in on its opening weekend. A new record has been set, and there’s no knowing how successful Quantumania will be until the final numbers trickle in over time. Fans will be happy to know that the franchise is here to stay and will continue to grow in the coming years.
