Directed by Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear opened to $23.1 million after stealing away younger adults (particularly males) from the Ant-Man threequel. Overseas, it sniffed out $5.3 million for early global total of $28.4 million.

Ant-Man 3 fell 69.7 percent, the worst decline ever for a title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe after eclipsing Black Widow‘s 67.8 percent drop (the latter pic had the disadvantage of opening during the pandemic, and was made available simultaneously in the home).

Ant-Man 3 had opened to $120.4 million over the four-day Presidents Day weekend, including a franchise-best $106.1 million for the three days (the three-day number is used as the official comparison going forward).

Poor Word of Mouth

But poor word of mouth is clearly hurting the movie, along with the competition posed by Cocaine Bear. Nor did a historic storm on the West Coast help matters.

Overseas, the superhero threequel earned another $46.4 million for a global tally of $363.6 million, including domestic cume of $167.3 million and $196.3 million overseas.

Cocaine Bear is a dark comedy about a drug smuggling operation that goes horribly awry when a 500-pound bear ingests a duffel bag of cocaine and goes on a killing rampage in a small Georgia town.

Banks also produced the genre movie, alongside Phil Lord, Christopher Miller,

Max Handelman, Brian Duffield and Aditya Sood. The feature earned a B- CinemaScore, which while low, generally is not a problem for horror-centric films.

In addition to Cocaine Bear, Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company’s Jesus Revolution also opened ahead of expectations. The faith-based feature — earning a coveted A+ CinemaScore — debuted to a rousing $15.5 million to place a strong No. 3. The 1970s-set feature is inspired by true events and centers on a revivalist Christian movement that swept America.