Ant-Man 3 Has Had a Poor, Concerning Second Box Office Weekend

In its second weekend at the box office, Ant-Man 3, aka Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, experienced a significant decline in ticket sales, with a 69% drop from its $105 million opening. This marks the largest second-weekend decline in the history of the Marvel franchise and has sparked discussions about a turning point for the franchise.

Ant-Man 3 Is Out in Cinemas

According to some analysts, the answer likely lies somewhere in the middle. A drop of around 70% in the second weekend is noteworthy, but films with opening earnings exceeding $100 million usually see a decline in attendance during the second week due to being front-loaded. Therefore, the turnout of $32 million for Quantumania during its second weekend is not the most promising, but it is still early in the movie’s theatrical run. Despite receiving negative reviews and audience scores, Ant-Man 3 had the biggest opening weekend of the trilogy and the first $100 million debut of the year.

There is a precedent for major movie franchises to earn the majority of their revenue during the opening weekend, which has become increasingly common for Marvel films due to the eagerness of audiences to avoid spoilers. Ant-Man 3 is the 31st movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and had a budget of $200 million, making it no exception to this trend.

The MCU Is Not Unpopular

The holiday weekend has not helped the box office figures for Quantumania. Some believe that the movie’s poor performance is a sign of a worrying trend with the Marvel franchise. Although it suffered the greatest decline, it is not the only recent MCU movie that has seen a significant drop in revenue in its second weekend. Other such movies include Black Widow, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Thor: Love and Thunder.

Excluding Black Widow, these films grossed between $760M and $955M in theaters. Marvel’s target audience is dependable, despite criticism from non-core fans. This unwavering base ensures consistency, making Marvel unique among franchises and showing that the brand will remain intact despite some divisions and front-loaded films.

To measure the success of the movie, analysts prefer to look at its lifetime total, and it is expected that the third Ant-Man installment will perform better than the previous ones. It is important to note that not all Marvel films perform equally at the box office. It’s challenging for releases like Ant-Man 3 to rival Avengers: Endgame or other heavy hitters from the franchise. While some worry about oversaturation with TV shows and movies, the impact of Quantumania on Guardians of the GalaxyVol. 3 and The Marvels is uncertain. Still, analysts say that Marvel is hitting more home runs than anyone else and is successful overall, despite occasional misses.