
Marvel’s “Ant-Man” landed with a solid $58 million at the weekend box office, while “Trainwreck’s” Amy Schumer put her own raunchy spin on romantic comedies to the tune of a $30.2 million debut.
It marks Marvel’s 12th consecutive first place opening, although “Ant-Man” isn’t at the level of other, bigger-name costumed heroes like Captain America, Thor and Iron Man, all of whom performed better out of the gate with their solo adventures. Going into the weekend, analysts expected “Ant-Man” to top $60 million, but its opening is similar to “The Incredible Hulk,” which earned an initial $55 million on its way to a $134 million U.S. haul.
“They are a victim of their own success,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Rentrak. “Any time you have a brand like Marvel, the expectations get blown out of proportion.”
That may be, but the studio sounds disappointed it couldn’t elevate “Ant-Man” to “Guardians of the Galaxy”-like numbers. Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis admitted that he wished the movie had done better, but still praised Marvel as a model of consistency.
“No one else could take what is really an obscure character and launch it in such a big way,” said Hollis. “It’s a sign that they’re doing so much right and that it’s a brand that has overwhelming momentum.”
Not every studio was on the defensive. Universal’s “Trainwreck” bested initial projections which had it debuting to roughly $20 million. The story of a commitment-phobic woman who falls for a sports doctor got a boost from strong reviews and a long and winding promotional tour that saw Schumer doing everything from posing provocatively with C3PO to sexting Katie Couric’s husband.
Want to know more? Got the drop at Variety . . .