For comparison’s sake, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” opened to $17 million in previews back in 2017, on its way to a $146.5 million opening weekend. More recently, James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” also opened to $17 million in previews, en route to a $134 million opening weekend. Those are just a couple of examples, but the comparisons certainly indicate that Paul Rudd’s third solo go-around as Scott Lang will do bigger numbers than anyone expected. The question is, can it hold up in the weeks to come?
The only potential issue right now is that the film holds a pretty brutal 48% approval rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, only the second ever MCU film to earn a “rotten” rating, alongside “Eternals.” The audience score is far better though, at 84%. While no budget figures have been released, recently Marvel films have all been much closer to the $200 million range before marketing. That is far more than “Ant-Man” or “Ant-Man and the Wasp,” both of which were in the $130 million range. That is to say, Marvel and Disney need this one to keep the box office dollars coming to justify a likely Avengers-sized budget.
Starring alongside Paul Rudd and Jonathan Majors are Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathryn Newton, Bill Murray, Katy O’Brian, William Jackson Harper, James Cutler, and David Dastmalchian.
“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” is in theaters now.