LOS ANGELES – Marvel's “Ant-Man” landed with a solid $58 million at the weekend box office, while “Trainwreck's” Amy Schumer put her own raunchy spin on romantic comedies to the tune of a $30.2 million debut. It marks Marvel's 12th consecutive first place opening, although “Ant-Man” isn't at the level of other, bigger-name costumed heroes like Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man, all of whom performed better out of the gate with their solo adventures. Going into the weekend, some analysts expected “Ant-Man” to top $60 million, but its opening is similar to “The Incredible Hulk,” which earned an initial $55 million on its way to a $134 million U.S. haul.
“Trainwreck,” on the other hand, bested initial projections which had it debuting to roughly $20 million.
“Trainwreck” kicks off Schumer's film career on a high note and marks the second biggest opening for director Judd Apatow, behind only “Knocked Up's” $30.7 million debut. Universal produced the comedy for a modest $35 million, so it should make a healthy return on its investment. In its second weekend, Universal and Illumination Entertainment's “Minions” captured runner-up status, pulling in $50.2 million.
The “Despicable Me” spin-off has racked up $216.7 million stateside since it debuted, while selling boatloads of merchandise. In milestone news, “Jurassic World” became just the fourth film in history to top $600 million domestically. The dinosaur thriller added $11.4 million to take fifth place on the box office chart and push its North American total to $611.1 million. – AP