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Monday July 20, 2015

'Ant-Man' a Goliath at Weekend B.O.; Schumer Debuts Strong

“Even 'Ant-Man.'” That’s what Marvel can say.

No “Marvel Cinematic Universe” movie—meaning the Marvel Studios movies that began with “Iron Man” in 2008—has not debuted at No. 1, and now “Ant-Man,” one of its least-powerful and least-known characters, joins the list. It debuted with a $57.2 million haul, which is middling Marvel (Hulk, Fantastic Four), but not bad considering.

So how long before we get the movie version of Man-Wolf? Or Man-Thing? Or Forbush Man?

(For the record, the last movie featuring a Marvel character that didn’t debut at No. 1 was 2012’s “Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance,” which was a horrible sequel to a horrible movie, and, for the purist in me, more action-horror than superhero. But it was made because the first movie, 2007’s “Ghost Rider,” did debut at No. 1: grossing $45 million and beating back “Bridge at Terabithia,” “Music and Lyrics” and “Norbit,” among others. It wound up grossing $228 million worldwide.)

The second weekend of “Minions” took second place, dropping 57% to $49 million. It’s now at $215 domestic, $625 worldwide. The new Judd Apatow-Amy Schumer comedy, “Trainwreck,” took third with $30 mil.

The highest-grossing marginal release (< 500 theaters) was “Bajrangi Bhaijaan,” which grossed $2.6 million in 256 theaters, followed by “Mr. Holmes,” starring Ian McKellen, which grossed $2.4 mil in 363 theaters.

On the all-time worldwide charts, there’s a slim $8 million gap between “Marvel’s Avengers” in third place ($1.519.6 billion) and “Furious 7” in fourth ($1.511.7 billion), but “Jurassic World” managed to thread that gap. It’s now at $1.513.5 billion. By the end of this week, it’ll be in third place all-time, with only Cameron country (far, far) ahead.

Posted at 02:26 PM on Monday July 20, 2015 in category Movies - Box Office