Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania Suffers Record Box Office Drop-off in Second Weekend

Marvel Studios' Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is facing a record dropoff at the box office in its second weekend. The film had the biggest opening of the Ant-Man trilogy last weekend, earning $104 million in its first three days and $118 million over the four-day holiday weekend. However, this weekend, it's projected for the worst box office drop in Marvel Studios' history, plummeting 70% for a second frame of around $30-32 million. Early box office projections suggested the film's box office benefitted from the buzz around the debut of the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Multiverse Saga villain, Kang the Conqueror, played by Jonathan Majors. If that's the case, then the heat around the new villain seems to have disappeared, while the film's middling B- CinemaScore a second-lowest Rotten Tomatoes score for a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie lingers.

Previously, Black Widow had the MCU's biggest box office drop at $67.8%, though it should be noted that the film also released on the same date on Disney+ Premier Access. Thor: Love and Thunder was a close second at 67.7%. Quantumania's drop is even greater than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice's 69% drop and the 69.7% drop that Ang Lee's Hulk suffered in 2003. 

The film's Critics' Consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads, "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania mostly lacks the spark of fun that elevated earlier adventures, but Jonathan Majors' Kang is a thrilling villain poised to alter the course of the MCU." Yet, its audience score is almost twice as positive as its critical number, and ComicBook.com's Jenna Anderson awarded the film a 4-out-of-5 in her review. She writes:

"On paper, a lot of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania shouldn't and couldn't work — but just enough does work to make watching it a worthwhile experience. Even with the occasional narrative flaw and aesthetic misstep, the film unfolds in a matter that's not unlike feverishly reading through a forgotten Bronze Age comic book, eagerly experiencing whatever story crumbs or impossible visuals might be in store. With multiple standout performances, an abundantly clear love for the wacky corners of science fiction, and a conflict that is guaranteed to matter in the years to come, Quantumania becomes the weirdest and most wholehearted chapter in the MCU's essential storytelling."

Peyton Reed returned to direct Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The film stars Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Jonathan Majors, Kathryn Newton, David Dastmalchian, Katy O'Brian, William Jackson Harper, Bill Murray, Michelle Pfeiffer, Corey Stoll, and Michael Douglas, and is playing in theaters now.