Here in the UK we’ve still got the best part of two months to wait, but Marvel Studios is set to unleash its third superhero movie of the year in the States in just three weeks, and it looks like Ant-Man and the Wasp is going to deliver another solid hit for the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
According to THR, the sequel – which reunites director Peyton Reed with stars Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man) and Evangeline Lilly (Hope Van Dyne/The Wasp) – is tracking a domestic opening weekend of between $70 and $80 million.
This is of course well below the $200 million plus debuts of Black Panther and Avengers: Infinity War, but it’s still a solid opening for the sequel and, assuming it reaches those numbers, it would put it well ahead of the $57.2 million opening weekend of 2015’s Ant-Man, which went on to gross $519.3 million worldwide.
Marvel is enjoying a very rich run of form lately. Black Panther and Infinity War have grossed an incredible $3.35 billion between them, while all three of 2017’s releases – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok – all topped $850 million globally.
It’s unlikely that Ant-Man and the Wasp will reach those heights, but it certainly looks like it’s going to cap off an incredible year for Marvel at the box office.
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From the Marvel Cinematic Universe comes Ant-Man and The Wasp, a new chapter featuring heroes with the astonishing ability to shrink. In the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a super hero and a father. As he struggles to rebalance his life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne and Dr. Hank Pym with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside the Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from the past.
Ant-Man and The Wasp sees Peyton Reed returning to the director’s chair and stars Paul Rudd (Scott Lang), Evangeline Lilly (Hope Van Dyne), Michael Douglas (Hank Pym), Michael Pena (Luis), David Dastmalchian (Kurt), Abby Ryder Fortson (Cassie Lang), Judy Greer (Maggie), Bobby Cannavale (Paxton) and T.I. (Dave), while new additions to the cast include Michelle Pfeiffer as Janet Van Dyne, Laurence Fishburne as Dr. Bill Foster/Goliath, Hannah John-Kamen as The Ghost, Walton Goggins as Sonny Burch and Randall Park as Jimmy Woo.
