Box Office Mixed: Disney/Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ Debut Disapoints At $58-M
$CMCSA, $DIS, $SNE
‘Ant-Man’ is the lowest domestic opening for Marvel Studios since ‘The Incredible Hulk,’ Amy Schumer wins with ‘Trainwreck’
The domestic box office was mixed this weekend.
Amy Schumer’s female-fueled R-rated comedy Trainwreck outperformed, Disney (NYSE:DIS) and Marvel’s Ant-Man came in behind expectations with $58-M. Marking the 2nd-lowest debut for Marvel Studios, The Incredible Hulk opened lower ($55.4-M).
Ant-Man took $56.4-M from its 1st 37 markets overseas. That puts Ant-Man’s global box office bow at $114.4-M.
Ant-Man claimed the top spot in North America ahead of holdover Minions, which took in $50.2-M in its 2nd weekend for a domestic take of $216.7-M. Ant-Man, earned A CinemaScore vying with Illumination Entertainment and Universal’s a Comcast (NASDAQ:CMCSA) unit, Minions for family affection, Minions fell 57%
Thunderstorms, lightning and rain in Southern California did not seem to dampen movie going overall although Ant-Man did not appear to benefit.
Trainwreck was up Saturday for a $30.2-M weekend, almost matching Knocked Up at $30.9-M to mark the best debut of Judd Apatow’s directing career. Trainwreck exceeded expectations and is a big win for popular comedian Amy Schumer as she makes her feature film debut.
The comedy garnered an A- CinemaScore and cost a modest $35-M to make, is the 5th film directed by Mr. Apatow, and the 1st he did not write. Nearly 40% of the audience was under the age of 30.
Pixar and Disney’s Inside Out placed #4 in its 5th frame, grossing $11.7% to hit the $300-M mark domestically with a total of $306.4-Mthrough Sunday and a global take of $490.1-M.
Jurassic World rounded out the Top 5 in its 6th outing with $11.4-M for a domestic total of $611.1-M for Universal. Internationally, the blockbuster beat the $900-M box office mark to finish Sunday with an estimated $1.513-B, overtaking fellow Universal title Furious 7 to become the # 4 title of all time.
Universal had a super box office weekend with 3 titles in the Top 5 domestically, the 1st time that’s happened since Y 2003. And Minions finished Sunday with an estimated global cume of $625.8-M.
At the specialty box office
Woody Allen’s Irrational Man launched to $188,115 from 5 theaters for Sony Pictures Classics (NYSE:SNE), the lowest box office debut for the director in 5 years. The mystery drama stars Joaquin Phoenix, Parker Posey, Jamie Blackley and Emma Stone.
Irrational Man’s screen average of $37,623 was higher than Allen’s last film, To Rome With Love, which debuted to $361,359 in 17 theaters for a screen average of $24,241. And Irrational Man’s screen average is among the highest box office so far this year.
Bill Condon’s Mr. Holmes, starring Ian McKellen as Sherlock Holmes opened larger. The movie opened to an estimated $2.5-M from 363 locations, good enough for an 11th-place finish. Roadside Attractions and Miramax are releasing the film in the US. Laura Linney also stars in Mr. Holmes, which earned an A- CinemaScore and is a hit among older adults, evidenced by a Friday to Saturday box office jump of 59%.
Elsewhere
2 dramas from India made noise at the US box office, with Bajrangi Bhaijaan and holdover Bahubali: The Beginning placing relatively high up on the chart. In its 2nd weekend, the latter grossed $1.3-M from 210 theaters for a domestic total of $6.3-M. Opening in 256 locations, Bajrangi placed #10 with $2.6-M.
Have some fun, see a movie this week.
HeffX-LTN
Paul Ebeling
The post Box Office Mixed: Disney/Marvel’s ‘Ant-Man’ Debut Disapoints At $58-M appeared first on Live Trading News.