Ant-Man and Trainwreck Off To Great Starts At The Thursday Box Office

The newest movies from Marvel Studios and Judd Apatow got off to great starts last night at Thursday night screenings that bode well for how both projects will fare through the weekend. The two films had their own challenges to face (interestingly, both had leads that had never led a mainstream motion picture before), but if last nights box office is any indication, neither one has anything to worry about come this weekend.


First up, Ant-Man made $6.4 million from Thursday night showings, a solid performance that's behind the Thursday night showings grosses for 2014 Marvel Studios films Guardians of The Galaxy (which made $11.2 million) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (which made $10.2 million). However, Ant-Man was never expected to reach the monumental heights of those MCU features, and it's numbers look even solid when compared to other recent blockbusters. For instance, it was up 40% from the $4.6 million Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made at Thursday night screenings and more than doubled the $3.1 million San Andrea shook up in those screenings in late May.

So, using its $6.2 million gross from last night as a guide, how much will the newest Peyton Reed feature make over the weekend? Well, Guardians made $94.3 million in its opening weekend, about 8.4 times its Thursday night grosses, while The Winter Soldier accumulated $95 million on opening weekend, which is 9.3 times its Thursday night grosses. Since Ant-Man made much less than those two last night, it's likely that it'll be less frontloaded for the weekend. A more appropriate comparison is likely Thor: The Dark World, which did 12 times its $7.1 million Thursday night grosses for an $85 million opening. I'll say Ant-Man will be in between Thor and Winter Soldier and do about 10.9 times its Thursday night grosses for a $69 million opening weekend, a great start for the tiny hero.

Scott Lang wasn't the only box office success going around last night though, as Trainwreck made an impressive $1.8 million. Looking at other R-rated summer 2015 comedies, that's below the $2.6 million Ted 2 made last night (that's to be expected given that that film is a sequel with a built-in audience) but above the $1.5 million Spy achieved. If Trainwreck played like Spy for the weekend, it would make $35 million in its opening weekend. I'll go a little lower and say it makes $33 million this coming weekend, but what a great start for Amy Schumer and her rave reviewed motion picture!