Thursday Night Previews: The Wasp Stings Ant-Man

July 6, 2018

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Ant-Man and the Wasp opened with $11.5 million during its midnight shows last night. That’s a huge increase from the $6.4 million the first Ant-Man earned during its previews. However, Ant-Man and the Wasp is a sequel, well, more of a sequel than Ant-Man was, so it very likely won’t have the same legs. Unfortunately, this is true of all of the best comparisons. Doctor Strange is the closest in terms of box office expectations, but it opened in November. Guardians of the Galaxy had a more similar release date, but its legs were unusually long and that would skew any calculation. Spider-Man: Homecoming opened this weekend last year, so it is an excellent comparison in that regard. It isn’t a direct sequel, but the character was introduced in Captain America: Civil War, so maybe it’s a little bit more of a sequel than the first Ant-Man was. If we assume the two films will have the same legs, then Ant-Man and the Wasp will open with about $87 million. This is better than our prediction and more than enough to be worth celebrating. Additionally, the film’s reviews have continued to improve and with a Tomatometer Score of 87% and an average score of 7 out of 10, it could have long legs over the weekend, at least when compared to most other similar releases.

We mentioned in our predictions that The First Purge earned $2.5 million during its previews. It then went on to earn $9.31 million during its opening Wednesday. Further good news, its reviews have climbed to 52% positive. That’s not great, but it is better than average for the franchise. It is still too early for Thursday’s numbers, but estimates have it at $4.6 million for the day. If that number holds, then I will be very happy for our weekend predictions.

- Ant-Man and the Wasp Comparisons
- The First Purge Comparisons

Filed under: Midnight Previews, Ant-Man and the Wasp, The First Purge, The Purge