‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Dominates at International Box Office Opening Weekend

Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp's international box office is proving giant as the Ant-Man sequel has pulled in $85 million for a $161 million global start, THR reports.

The just-released sequel is pacing 45% ahead of its 2015 predecessor internationally after its $76 million stateside bow topped the $57.2 million domestic opening weekend of the first.

In overseas markets, South Korea led with $20.9 million, including previews. Ant-Man and the Wasp came out ahead of Disney's own Pixar-animated Incredibles 2, which added $35.7 million abroad from 39 markets for a foreign cube of $268.4 million as it nears $800 million worldwide.

It also topped Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, which bowed in many international markets June 6. The Jurassic World sequel roared up an additional $28.6 million to its $725m+ overseas box office for a global total of $1.058 billion.

Ant-Man and the Wasp follows Black Panther and the heavier Avengers: Infinity War, and is the first Marvel Studios production to name a female heroine in its title. Per Disney, 45% of the audience this weekend were women.

"From a diversity perspective, [president] Kevin [Feige] and his team at Marvel have continued to play up all sorts of characters, and all different types of stories. The diversity in their filmmaking resonates with audiences," said Disney distribution chief Cathleen Taff.

"Ant-Man and the Wasp can't be compared to The Avengers or a cultural phenomenon like Black Panther, and we are thrilled with where the film is."

Disney now owns half of the ten biggest openings of 2018: Avengers (1st, $257m), Black Panther (2nd, $202m), Incredibles 2 (3rd, $182), Solo: A Star Wars Story (6th, $84m) and Ant-Man and the Wasp (7th, $76m).

Ant-Man and the Wasp won't reach one of the bigger international markets, the U.K., until August 3 — nearly a month after its U.S. opening — something that left Hope van Dyne star Evangeline Lilly "pissed off."

"They always do that," Lilly told Empire magazine. "Then what happens is people just pirate the movie and they see it in the worst way possible, like some sh-tty version online, instead of going to a theater."

"They go in the end, but I don't like that staggering," she said. "I'm really going to get to the bottom of this for you. I'm as pissed off about it as you are."

Overseas fans launched a petition in hopes of moving up its U.K. release date to no avail.

Ant-Man and the Wasp has yet to reach India, where it opens July 13, followed by July 18 openings for Belgium, France, and the Netherlands, and July 26 openings for Germany and Hungary. It finally reaches the U.K., Ireland and Poland August 3, before opening in Italy August 14 and Japan August 31.