‘Ant-Man’ punches above his weight in debut weekend
This photo provided by Disney shows Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man in a scene from Marvel’s “Ant-Man.” The film releases in the U.S. on Friday, July 17, 2015. (Zade Rosenthal/Disney/Marvel via AP)
LOS ANGELES—Marvel action flick “Ant-Man” proved less can be more as it topped the North American box office tally in its debut over the weekend, industry data showed Monday.
The movie — about a thief-turned-hero who wears special armor that makes him tiny but super strong as he undertakes a mission to save the world — posted sales of $57.2 million, said box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
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It unseated the animated comedy “Minions,” a prequel to the “Despicable Me” movies featuring three tiny mischievous creatures. This one came in second with $49.3 million, after racking up $115.7 million last weekend in its debut.
“Minions” tells the story of lozenge-shaped, yellow characters whose goal is to serve the most despicable master they can.
Another movie making its debut — “Trainwreck” with comic Amy Schumer — came in third with $30.1 million in sales. It is about a woman who is wary of steady romantic relationships but falls for a sports doctor.
In fourth place was the animated flick “Inside Out,” at $11.5 million.
It features the voice of comedian Amy Poehler and follows young Riley as her emotions of joy, fear, anger, disgust and sadness battle it out internally as she copes with a move to a new city.
“Jurassic World” dropped from second to fifth place, taking in another $11.5 million, bringing the dinosaur movie’s overall total to a huge $611.2 million.
Taking the sixth spot was action-packed sci-fi fantasy “Terminator Genisys,” which brought in $5.4 million in its third weekend.
In seventh position was “Magic Mike XXL,” a dance-themed drama about a former stripper, starring Channing Tatum. It pulled in $4.4 million in theaters over the weekend.
Dropping to eighth place after debuting at number five was Hollywood producer Jason Blum’s latest spine-tingler, “The Gallows,” which took in $4 million.
The movie, which recalls 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project” for its hand-held camera technique, gives young actors Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos and Cassidy Gifford their first substantial roles.
“Bajrangi Bhaijaan” — about a speech-impaired girl from Pakistan who gets lost in India and gets help from a kind-hearted man to find her way home to her family — grabbed ninth place, with just over $2.6 million.
Rounding out the top 10 was “Ted 2,” the raunchy sequel to Seth MacFarlane’s comedy about a foul-mouthed teddy bear, which brought in $2.6 million.
