Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was surpassed at the early weekend box office by Universal Pictures' Cocaine Bear.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Quantumania is currently projected to earn over $30 million domestically in its second weekend, a 71.6% drop from its debut box office earnings, which would be the worst second-weekend drop for a superhero film that opened to over $100 million. Universal's Cocaine Bear earned $8.7 million (including Thursday previews) on its first Friday in theaters, surpassing the $8.3 million earned by Quantumania on the same day. The horror-comedy is currently on track to open ahead of expectations to an estimated $21.21 million at the domestic box office. While Quantumania lost to Cocaine Bear on Friday, it is possible that the MCU film will still come out on top of the box office once the weekend is over.
Quantumania's projected 70% drop in its second weekend is closely followed by DC’s Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which experienced a 69.1% drop in weekend two, while fellow Marvel Studios film Thor: Love and Thunder saw Marvel's biggest decline at the time: 67.7%. Prior to its release, it was projected that Quantumania would open lower than Love and Thunder, with estimated earnings between $96 and $131 million.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania's Box Office Performance
The Ant-Man threequel, which kicked off Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, inevitably pulled a domestic total of $120 million in its first weekend in theaters, dominating the 4-day President's Day holiday weekend. Quantumania saw the best opening of the Ant-Man franchise, earning more in its first weekend than the previous two films. However, the film became the second MCU entry to earn a "Rotten" score on Rotten Tomatoes, the first being 2021's Eternals. At the time of writing, the Ant-Man film holds a 48% approval rating from 354 reviews, though the audience score is significantly higher at 84%.
Quantumania kicked off Phase 5 of the MCU, with Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly both reprising their respective roles of Scott Lang/Ant-Man and Hope Van Dyne/the Wasp. Directed by Peyton Reed, the film follows Ant-Man as he and his family, including Scott's daughter Cassie Lang (Kathryn Newton) attempt to escape the Quantum Realm, ruled by the terrifying Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors).
Directed by Elizabeth Banks with a screenplay from Jimmy Warden, Cocaine Bear is loosely based on a true story and follows a 500-pound black bear's murderous rampage after it consumes a large amount of cocaine. The film follows a collection of cops and teenagers as they do their best to survive against the out-of-control creature. Cocaine Bear stars Alden Ehrenreich, Keri Russell, Margo Martindale, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, and more, including the late Ray Liotta.
Both Cocaine Bear and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania are in theaters now.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter