Delivering one of the best President’s Day weekends ever, Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is looking at a four-day debut in the $118 million range. The third solo Ant-Man film and the 31st overall in the long-running Marvel Cinematic Universe grossed $100 million-plus across the traditional three-day weekend, after a $46 million Friday.
This isn’t just the biggest opening for an Ant-Man film — the first movie made $57 million in its opening weekend in 2015 while the second film made $76 million in its debut weekend three years later — but also the third-biggest weekend for the month of February. Ant-Man 3 is trailing fellow superhero blockbusters Black Panther ($242 million across four days) and Deadpool ($152 million across four days).
Globally, the film is eyeing a $225 million opening weekend, which is slightly under projections. The Ant-Man movies have typically performed lower than their more prominent MCU counterparts, owing to their self-contained (and usually low-stakes) stories and less-popular source material. The first Ant-Man ended its global run with $519 million, while the second film, Ant-Man and the Wasp, finished with $622 million worldwide. Ant-Man 3 has deliberately been designed as a bigger experience, although this might have backfired on Marvel; the film has drawn some of the worst reviews in the franchise’s nearly 15-year history. Ant-Man 3 also has the additional responsibility of ushering in Phase Five of the series, after Phase Four left die-hard fans somewhat dissatisfied.
Now in its 10th weekend, director James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water took the number two spot with an estimated $7.8 million across four days, taking its running domestic total to $658 million. The Way of Water has dominated the box office ever since its debut in December, making the best of little competition and genuine audience interest, on its way to a staggering $2.2 billion worldwide. It will soon overtake Cameron’s 1997 blockbuster Titanic for the third spot on the all-time list.
Universal’s Puss in Boots: The Last Wish was released just a week after The Way of Water, and has held almost as well across the last couple of months, albeit on a smaller level. The animated sequel is expected to gross nearly $7 million across the extended weekend, taking its running domestic total to $167 million. Globally, the film has made over $420 million, but it still trails the first film's $555 million worldwide haul by a large margin.
The fourth spot went to last week’s number-one film, Magic Mike’s Last Dance, which is expected to make $5.75 million across the extended weekend for a running domestic total of a ho-hum $18 million. Both previous Magic Mike movies were bonafide box office hits, and there’s zero chance of Magic Mike 3 hitting their numbers ($167 million and $122 million worldwide, respectively), despite its significantly higher budget. The film was originally destined for a direct-to-HBO Max release, which was scuttled in favor of a targeted theatrical debut in 1,500 theaters. The top five was rounded out by M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin, which is eyeing a $4.4 million four-day finish, for a running domestic total of an underwhelming $30 million.
In some happy news, the 2023 box office will pass the $1 billion mark this week. This year is pacing ahead of the same period in 2022 by over 50%, signaling a return to form after the pandemic. You can watch our interview with Ant-Man 3 director Peyton Reed here, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.