After a couple of solid weekends to end the month of June at the box office, July is looking to start things off with a bang with the arrival of Ant-Man And The Wasp. Also on deck, and getting the jump on the Marvel entry a couple of days early, is The First Purge which gets things started on July 4.
Marvel is gearing up for another winner with Ant-Man And The Wasp which will continue their box office dominance as well as feed the hunger of any fan that wants even the faintest relation to Avengers: Infinity War. Despite featuring a character that may not be entirely well-known to the casual moviegoer, the character has grown in popularity due to his first solo film and his appearance in Captain America: Civil War.
The first Ant-Man opened to $57 million back in 2015 and turned that into a $180 million domestic gross and $519 million worldwide. The domestic total may seem like it’s on the low end for Marvel but, again, this a character that isn’t well known to everyone so it’s performance in 2015 was actually quite respectable.
Also working in the film’s favor is that Marvel has once again scored in the critical department with the Marvel sequel coming in at 85% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes as of this writing which currently has it a tad higher than the original film which came in at 82% fresh. The reviews suggest that the film is completely fun and light which could make it much more accessible to a wider audience.
The film is headed into a crowded marketplace but it is the lone big tentpole opening this weekend and that allows the film to dominate in a big way. I think Ant-Man And The Wasp will definitely open beyond the original film and bring in about $80 million for the weekend.
The First Purge, which is a prequel to the popular franchise from Blumhouse Productions, adds a little horror to the holiday weekend and it will likely prove successful as this series of films has been quite a force at the box office in the past. As the title suggests, the prequel will take us back to the purge that started it all with the first deranged 12-hour period set in a dystopian America where all crime is legal.
The film doesn’t have a Rotten Tomatoes score yet as it likely wasn’t screened for critics but reviews have never hurt the franchise one bit. The first film came in at 38% rotten but grossed $89 million worldwide on a $3 million budget. The Purge: Anarchy fared a bit better with critics but was still rotten at 56% but still scored with audiences as it grossed $111.9 million worldwide on an $8 million budget. The last film, The Purge: Election Year, was also rotten at 53% but grossed $118.5 million worldwide on an $11 million budget. As you can see, each film keeps performing better and better and there is no reason I can see that won’t let that happen again. Given the $13 million budget, The First Purge will turn a profit by the end of its first five days with about $25 million for the weekend.
