‘Ant Man 3′ Should Dominate Presidents Day Weekend With $100M-Plus
Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly star in the first event movie of 2023.
The Marvel and Disney release will easily score the top box office opening of 2023 to date and top the holiday weekend chart.
In 2015, the first Ant-Man launched to $57.2 million domestically — the lowest start of any MCU offering — on its way to earning $519.3 million globally. Three years later, the second film, Ant-Man and the Wasp, started off with $75.8 million in North America before topping out at $622.7 million worldwide.
A three-day domestic opening of $95 million for the newest Ant-Man would represent a 25 percent gain over the second film’s bow.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania reunites director Peyton Reed with actors Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly. The cast also includes Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, Bill Murray, Katy O’Brian, William Jackson Harper, James Cutler and David Dastmalchian.
Overseas, Ant-Man 3 could start off with anywhere from $130 million to $190 million. It’s the first Marvel and Disney pic to get a day-and-date release in China since Avengers: Endgame in 2019 (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was finally released in the Middle Kingdom earlier this month, but by that time was widely available digitally).
The original Ant-Man earned a total of $105 million in China, followed by $122.2 million for the sequel.
Ant-Man 3 is making a huge 3D push after the success of Avatar: The Way of Water and, more recently, a 3D remastered edition of Titanic.
The upcharge for the format in North America could result in a bump in the mid- to high teens for Quantumania.
By Friday, the pic will be playing in roughly 4,300 theaters in the U.S. and Canada, including 2,500 3D screens.
