Three years ago, Marvel placed Ant-Man, a sleeper hit about one of the studio’s lesser-known heroes, in the thick of summer blockbuster season. And to his credit, Scott Lang stood firm, collecting around $180M at the domestic box office for a global cume in excess of $500M.
A lot of contributing factors aided Ant-Man’s success – timing, for one, not to mention weak competition (see: Terminator: Genisys and Fantastic Four) – but it seems Lady Luck isn’t smiling on Ant-Man and the Wasp. At least not to the same extent.
Per Forbes, it’s being reported that Ant-Man and the Wasp is destined to hit $173M in the States… and not much more. That would place it just below Ant-Man‘s domestic total, and while this is merely a box office forecast, it’s no secret that the MCU’s 20th installment faces a tall order if it’s to keep hold of the proverbial crown over the coming weeks, when audiences will be flocking to see Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, Dwayne Johnson’s Skyscraper movie and Mission: Impossible – Fallout.
Another thing worth considering is that Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s foreign box office currently accounts for 48 percent of its overall total, so Marvel may be looking to overseas markets to help offset the slight lull on home turf. It’s only a $7 million difference at the domestic box office though, so we can’t imagine Kevin Feige and Co. will be sweating over the numbers anytime soon – particularly after Peyton Reed’s follow-up helped launch the MCU’s lifetime total past $17 billion.
Either way, all will be revealed over the coming weeks, while Reed is already hinting at the bonus content coming to Ant-Man and the Wasp‘s Blu-ray.
