How Much Quantumania Cost To Make & Was It A Box Office Bomb?

As the first film in the MCU’s Phase 5, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania marked an important step forward in the Multiverse Saga, and its box office needed to reflect this. Setting up Kang the Conqueror in the lead up to Phase 6’s Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was a much bigger story than simply Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne’s next adventure. In a departure from Peyton Reed’s previous Ant-Man films, Quantumania was much more connected to the MCU’s overarching narrative, similar to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home.

With Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Marvel Studios continues their pattern of expanding the scope and scale of third films in MCU trilogies. Captain America: Civil War, Thor: Ragnarok, and the more recent Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 are prime examples of this. This had the potentially adverse effect of raising expectations for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s box office and critical response, however, which ultimately proved to be detrimental, as the film was met with criticism. Quantumania was perhaps the most ambitious of the MCU’s Ant-Man flicks – and by far the most expensive in the Paul Rudd-led franchise.

Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania’s Budget Was Around $200 Million

Peyton Reed’s third installment in the MCU’s Ant-Man franchise reportedly cost Disney around $193 million – concerning pre-production and filming – a large increase on the $130-$169 million budget for 2015’s Ant-Man and similar figures for 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s budget increase was partly due to the greater reliance on visual effects and CGI in the Phase 5 film, as most of the action takes place in the MCU Quantum Realm – lending to the film’s title. Phase 4’s similarly large-scale MCU projects, including Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: No Way Home, also racked up a $200 million budget.

The massive budget for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania would have been a risk for Disney, making it difficult for the film to turn a respectable profit. However, when compared to the likes of Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame’s $325-$400 million budgets, $200 million is comparatively small. A budget this size was normally only reserved for the MCU’s crossover films, but Phase 4 saw an increase in the budgets for its solo projects, with Thor: Love & Thunder, Eternals, and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever all seeing a budget surpassing $200 million. In this sense, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s huge budget actually makes sense.

How Much Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania Made At The Box Office

In total, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania ended up grossing a total of $475.8 million globally, with $214.2 million in the United States and Canada and $261.6 million in other territories. Prior to the film’s release, early projections noted that Quantumania could gross over $100 million domestically and $280 million globally in its opening weekend, though the film went on to gross roughly $120 million over the four-day period – making it the best opening weekend of the MCU’s Ant-Man franchise. However, its second week saw a 69% drop, down to $32 million in the United States, and a 61% drop the week after, bringing in only $12.4 million.

In comparison, 2015’s Ant-Man grossed a total of $519.3 million over its theatrical run, and 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp brought in $622.7 million, both of which were produced on much smaller budgets. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s quick decline at the box office earned the film the title of largest second-week drop-off for any project in the MCU, despite having the strongest opening weekend of any Ant-Man film and the third-best opening weekend for a February release, behind 2018’s Black Panther and 2016’s Deadpool. Unfortunately, these poor figures are only part of the story of Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s tenuous success.

Was Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania A Box Office Bomb?

Usually, theaters retain around 50% of the profits collected during any film’s theatrical run, meaning Disney received around $235 million dollars for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. This means that, technically, the Phase 5 film did make a profit, though a profit of only around $30 million is below initial expectations – especially when further marketing and promotional costs are considered. While Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania perhaps can’t be considered an honest-to-goodness box office bomb – it didn’t make a loss – the film certainly didn’t reach the numbers done by the most successful MCU projects.

Aside from Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s box office returns, the film is one of Marvel Studios’ most unsuccessful projects, critically and commercially. While the film’s performances, music, and visual effects were praised, the narrative, screenplay, and overt departure from previous Ant-Man installments were scrutinized. While the MCU’s Phase 5 seems to be more hopeful following the success of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’s poor box office returns and mixed critical response probably wasn’t what Marvel Studios was expecting for their debut of Phase 5.

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