Following blockbusters like
Black Panther and
Avengers: Infinity War, the Disney-owned Marvel Studios is continuing its hot streak at the box office with its latest release
Ant-Man and the Wasp. The anticipated sequel, which is not nearly the blockbuster event that was
Infinity War, but just as well-received by fans and critics alike, is currently tracking towards an impressive $81.5 million 3-day opening weekend at the domestic box office. According to Deadline, even low-end tracking has the movie at $75 million for its opening.
Ant-Man and the Wasp's $81.5M opening would be 42 percent higher than the first standalone film for the character, which opened to $57.2 million. While it's possible to compare the sequel's opening to other superhero films and Disney blockbusters, it would be a rather unjust comparison. As Deadline points out, while
Solo - which many viewed as a box office disappointment - opened to $84.4 million, the production budget of
Ant-Man and the Wasp was nowhere near as bloated as the
Star Wars spinoff which suffered from major reshoots. The budget for
Ant-Man and the Wasp was also lower than a number of other Marvel sequels. Deadline notes:
Sources tell us that Disney kept the shooting cost for Ant-Man and the Wasp around $162M net –which is lower than other Marvel sequels like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ($200M net), Thor: Dark World ($170M) and Thor: Ragnarok‘s ($180M)– with a global P&A spend around $154M. The first Ant-Man profited close to $104M off a $519.3M WW gross and $130M net production cost, and Wasp was hatched to do the same and should be in the black at around $600M-$650M WW.
While
Ant-Man and the Wasp probably won't reach the record-breaking box office numbers we're used to seeing with other Marvel movies, a modest budget will likely ensure the sequel is quite profitable.
Ant-Man and the Wasp will likely claim the No. 1 spot at this weekend's box office followed by another Disney movie in Pixar's
Incredibles 2, which is expected to take in another $31.1 million and push its domestic total to over $500 million.
We'll be sure to update the box office figures as the weekend continues. In the meantime, you can find
all of our coverage for Ant-Man and the Wasp, including reviews, spoilers, and more, right here.