As the latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was always going to be the center of attention this weekend, but it hasn’t been for all the right reasons.
A 48 percent Rotten Tomatoes score puts it as the second lowest-rated of the franchise’s 31 features to date on the aggregation site, while a B grade on CinemaScore ties it with Eternals at the bottom of the barrel, while the knives are already being sharpened for Phase Five as a whole after Quantumania continued the slump that’s dogged the MCU’s recent projects.
However, there is a silver lining, and it comes in the form of Marvel Studios’ preferred method of determining success; cold, hard cash. After netting an estimated $104 million across the three-day frame – which is expected to hit $118 million for the four-day weekend – the third Ant-Man adventure is the highest-grossing debutant by far.
In addition, it’s become the fifth consecutive MCU release to crack $100 million in its opening weekend, highlighting that the superhero saga’s post-pandemic returns are back to normal levels. It’s also the biggest debut of 2023 by a longshot, but perhaps most notably, Quantumania is only the third February release in history to tie down a nine-figure first frame after Black Panther and Deadpool.
The real question is how high it can fly before it exits multiplexes in favor of Disney Plus, but it just goes to show no matter how much people trash the MCU’s downturn in quality, audiences are still willing to fork over the cash to catch it on the biggest screen imaginable as soon as possible.
Published: Feb 19, 2023 12:12 pm