Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Ant-Man and The Wasp

  • Marvel Studios Cracking Down on ‘Ant-Man 3’ Script Leaker

    Marvel Studios Cracking Down on ‘Ant-Man 3’ Script Leaker

    It’s not been easy for a studio like Marvel Studios which has been well-known for keeping secrets as of late. Almost every other day, it seems like some new leaker finds his way online with information on projects that haven’t even been announced yet or castings that should not see the light of day until the actual release. Yet, there have been some even bigger actions such as the recent leak of the entire Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania script before the film even hit theaters.

    It seems Marvel Studios is also no longer sitting idly by, as there have been rumblings of several actions to avoid the number of leaks collected throughout the pandemic. The longer it took for productions to hit theaters, the wilder the theories and rumors got creating a perfect storm dragging down some of the projects due to high expectations and a two-year vacancy. Now, it seems Marvel Studios has enacted a DMCA takedown notice on Reddit.

    As the script ended up getting shared in January, it landed on Google which led to a copyright infringement move by Marvel Studios to get it off the internet as fast as possible. Google did remove the content but their next target was Reddit. The post got taken down before even Reddit could react, but they are still actively looking to identify the culprit.

    The only issue is that it was enacted through the /u/MSSMods account, which was a shared moderator account for Marvel Studios Spoilers; a quite famous hot spot for the latest leaks and news. They are still actively looking for whoever and it seems that r/MarvelStudiosSpoilers has been shut down due to legal actions. It’s unclear what the future might have in store but one thing is for sure: Marvel Studios is not going to just let anyone get away with it moving forward.

    Source: Torrent Freak via The Direct

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ Passes $400M Globally and Beats ‘Ant-Man’s Domestic Run

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ Passes $400M Globally and Beats ‘Ant-Man’s Domestic Run

    All eyes are on Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania‘s box office run, some with shock and others with glee. The film faced a record second-weekend drop that is slightly above Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice‘s back in 2016. With a B CinemaScore and rather mild word-of-mouth, the film was the focus of many deliberations over the end of Marvel Studios’ reign at the box office. Still, the film is performing and isn’t as big as it could’ve been.

    As of now, the film saw a smaller international drop in its third weekend compared to the domestic performance as it pulled in $22M in 52 markets. That is a 53% drop and a bit of a better hold than the 61% we saw domestically at $12M+. As such, the film stands domestically at $186.7M and internationally at $232.7M. Worldwide the film is now at $419.5M and is still expected to pass $500M worldwide going by Deadline’s current expectations while others believe it might barely miss that benchmark.

    That would align with our early predictions after the second-week drop, which was expecting the film to land somewhere between $500M to $550M, though it is now leaning towards the former. That would put it below the international box office of Ant-Man and the Wasp, which pulled in $632M and it’s even more uncertain if it’ll beat Ant-Man‘s $519M worldwide.

    We also can’t forget how different the comparisons are if you take China’s overall slump as a factor in how the film is performing. Ant-Man‘s 518M run consisted of 105M in China. So, the film technically made around 413M without that specific market. Ant-Man and the Wasp similarly pulled in 120M in China, which would set it at 503M. If the film wraps up at around 40M in China and plays around the 500M mark, it’ll still have made quite a bit more than the first entry, though that 200M budget is just what is hurting the film at this point.

    It’s the “risk” that they took by going big and bold with this Ant-Man film, which may simply just have had some take a step back in this rather different direction for the franchise. As such, it’s uncertain just how much money they invested in the marketing, as if they went 100M, they’d have to at least hit 600M to technically break even as they make around half from box office tickets. It’s something only expected with high-budget investments. Though, they made enough last year to balance it out somewhat.

    What is definite though is that domestically the threequel has passed the first Ant-Man‘s $180M entire domestic run by its third weekend. It’s definitely not as far as it could’ve gone if the film’s domestic hold was stronger, but it’s not a complete loss due to the film still performing decently. It’s a similar discussion point that we saw with the first Ant-Man film when it opened to a tepid $57M and was called a flop after releasing in the wake of Avengers: Age of Ultron.

    Ironically, Age of Ultron was also the focus of a similar discussion point when it opened below the first Avengers film. Even though it “only” managed to pull in $1.4B compared to The Avengers‘ still impressive $1.5B back in 2012. While it’s different circumstances overall, especially with the higher investment in Quantumania outshining previous entries, it’s always been a discussion point on the staying power of Marvel studios at the box office if a slight drop happens.

    The main point still remains that the fatigue discussion and “end of Marvel” existed ever since 2015 and likely won’t ever end. 2021 releases still performed incredibly well even with B+ scores, and Marvel Studios may have taken too big of a step with the usual smaller Ant-Man franchise. No matter where one stands on its quality, it’s definitely a bigger jump for one of Marvel Studios’ various franchises that just didn’t quite pay off.

    The long-forgotten aspect of Marvel movies is also that not everyone watches every single entry. So, if this truly will echo for future entries remains to be seen as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 seems like a sure-fire release this summer and The Marvels‘ could still pull in quite an audience if it manages to reverse the current “B” CinemaScore trend. It may be fatigue, it may not be but Eternals‘ dominance on Disney+ after a soft (and another risky release) during the pandemic may hint at the overall “heard it’s alright, let’s wait for it to hit Disney+” mentality echoing out of the 45-day release window.

    If this film has strong Disney+ numbers once it releases on the platform, we are definitely looking at a trend. Marvel Studios films will open big but require a much stronger reception to stick around in theaters due to the certainty of a free streaming release. We might be seeing an aftermath of the pandemic that is easily overshadowed but not forgotten when looking at Strange Worlds and Lightyear. If Disney was smart, they’d pull another Wakanda Forever and just refuse to release it anytime soon; something Bog Iger and Kevin Feige might be pushing as a back to the old norm with Bob Chapek out of the picture.

    Source: Deadline, The Numbers (Ant-Man), The Numbers (Avengers), The Numbers (Ant-Man 2), Twitter

  • ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    ‘Ant-Man 3′ Faces Marvel Studios’ Biggest Second Weekend Drop at 70%

    The numbers are finally in and it looks like Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania was able to make up some momentum over the weekend, as while many feared it’ll be the first superhero film to drop above 70% in its second weekend, it held on stronger than expected and entered its second weekend at $32.2M, which is still a sharp 69.7% decline. As of now, it makes it the biggest second-weekend drop for any Marvel Studios offering, which was previously held by Black Widow at 67.8%. It also is above that of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice which held the record for the highest superhero drop in its second weekend at 69.1%. Though it could still go up or down depending on adjustments once Sunday’s final numbers are here.

    It had similar critical reception and CinemaScore to Eternals, which managed to hold at 62% during COVID. Even as people want to call this the end of Marvel Studios, the opening does paint a very specific picture of how Marvel films currently operate. They will draw in quite a crowd early on (with varying success depending on the marquee character) but depending on its rewatchability will leg out better or worse. Perhaps Quantumania‘s weirdness and comic book-inspired direction just was too much for audiences, just as much as it wasn’t jelling with critics.

    The film also had a harsher drop internationally with around 70% and currently is on its path to gross anywhere between $470M to $540M according to some estimates. Though it depends on its third weekend potentially inching it back up that could give us a better clue at where it is heading at the moment. Currently, it might make around 215M to 245M domestically. Quantumania currently stands at a still-strong 363.7M worldwide, and an insider seems to paint a different picture than the overreacting internet tends to:

    Marvel takes something away from movie including Black Panther, including Avengers. I can say we’re incredibly proud of the film, Jonathan Majors does a fantastic job as Kang. It’s the movie we wanted to make. Box office is what it is, but it’s not going to stop people from going back to the theaters.

    Quantumania still had a stronger second weekend than the previous two entries as Ant-Man stood at $24M and its sequel at 29M. So, it starts to paint the picture that this film is performing more like a regular Ant-Man threequel after a Captain America: Civil War-like opening. If word-of-mouth was better, the film would’ve had the potential to go much stronger but we’ll see if Marvel Studios has a reaction to it. Still, if it hits the higher parts of its current estimates, the film could still manage to outgross the first entry. The only issue is its much higher budget that probably leaves a bit of a stomach ache for Marvel; though it’s not the “end of Marvel” or “Marvel fatigue” going by its opening alone.

    The lower Chinese market makes all the difference considering both previous entries pulled around $100M+ from that market which hasn’t had a Marvel opening since 2019 and generally saw far weaker performances from most Hollywood productions in that market. As stated earlier, the film is likely to break even at this rate, which is still better than most high-budget releases that we saw last year that faced far worse odds. Also Deadline pointed out that science-fiction shows struggle more in specific markets which we’re also seeing reflected here, as this was the most “out-there” direction the franchise took besides simple space travel to other planets.

    Something worth noting though is that the second weekend may have seen an overall harsher drop, but its Friday-to-Saturday numbers paint a very curious picture. Thor: Love and Thunder dropped around 68% in its second weekend but saw a much softer jump from Friday to Saturday at around 34%. It’s Thursday to Friday was also at around 65%, which could be due to the stronger weekly performance during the summer. Quantumania had a stronger jump than Multiverse of Madness going into its Friday (+119% vs. +111%) and from there going into Saturday (+76% vs. 54%). The Saturday-to-Sunday drop is slightly harsher (-36% vs. -31%) but could be an indicator for its third weekend. The big question is the drop going into Monday and how it carries into the next week.

    The weekend had a surprise opening for Cocaine Bear at $23M, which likely had its male audience take a bigger bite out of Ant-Man than expected. Though the film might also face a harsher drop next weekend, as unlike M3GAN or Violent Night, it got a softer B- CinemaScore with more mixed reactions from audiences. Still, it’s a good opening for the out-there black comedy and likely got its CinemaScore from the amount of gore that was included; something horror films generally struggle with when it comes to audience reception.

    Source: Variety, Twitter, Deadline, The Numbers, The Numbers (Love and Thunder),

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ May End its 2nd Weekend With Superhero Genre’s Biggest Drop Ever

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ May End its 2nd Weekend With Superhero Genre’s Biggest Drop Ever

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania still had some momentum leaving its first week with a strong Monday holiday, but quickly slipped throughout the week to Marvel’s second-worst Thursday at 3.7M only beating Thor: The Dark World. Now, the second weekend has finally started and while most expected it to move around 60% to 65%, we’re about to face a much harsher weekend for the Marvel Studios latest than expected.

    The film has been overshadowed by Cocaine Bear going into its Friday, which pulled in a strong $8.65M including Thursday previews against Ant-Man 3 that pulled in $8.3M (a harsh 82% drop which is higher than that of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness). Of course, it technically is behind Quantumania but gets that premiere Thursday boost. Still, the film is expected to open above $20M at this rate and is looking to showcase the staying power for some bloody good action in theaters.

    Right behind it is Jesus Revolution which has a very strong audience performance and is also expected to open strongly thanks to its faith-based core audience. Both are still not expected to dethrone Ant-Man this weekend but the film is set to potentially drop between 67% to 72%. Right now, everyone is losing a bit of faith and believes the drop might be on the harsher end, which would make it the biggest drop for any Marvel Studios film and potentially even superhero films in general.

    So, what exactly is going on? The Friday drop was a harsh 82% and now has the third lowest second Friday, as it still is holding better than Eternals and Black Widow, but it also had a bigger opening than both. Right now, the question is if it’ll still manage 30M or surprise with 35M after all after that sharp drop. The lowest holder of the second-weekend drop is Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice at 69.1%, which adds to the weight if this film will even stick around below 70%. So far, the only blockbuster that had this high of a drop was the last Harry Potter film at 72%.

    It’s hard to say but word-of-mouth isn’t really pushing it as strongly as it could. There’s a chance that most that weren’t fully sold on the film are just going to wait for the Disney+ release and that is why there’s no rush to see it in theaters, as with 3 1/2 PostTrack rating it wasn’t deemed terrible just didn’t sell audiences on it being a must-watch (mixed word-of-mouth doesn’t always translate to terrible film). We’ll have to see where it truly lands this weekend as it’s expected to have a better Saturday but at best it might rival Thor: Love and Thunder‘s weekend drop which was 67.7%.

    Source: Twitter, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, The Numbers

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’s [SPOILER] Is Open for a MODOK Prequel

    ‘Ant-Man 3’s [SPOILER] Is Open for a MODOK Prequel

    The following article includes spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. So, only read it at your own risk.

    One of Marvel Studios’ worst-kept secrets was the return of Corey Stoll in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. We got the return of Darren Cross but in quite a different way than some may have hoped. No longer was he wearing the Yellowjacket suit but rather has become the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s take on the iconic Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing, or MODOK for short.

    In an interview with ComicBook.com, Stoll got a chance to share his thoughts on the role and it seems he’s definitely down to return. He’d be open to potentially exploring a prequel story on his time as MODOK before the events of Quantumania, though he’s not sure if audiences would be able to “take him seriously after” Quantumania.

    I think having gone so comedic with this, it would be fun to maybe go back before the events of this movie and see him as this really scary, mechanized organism designed only for killing. But I don’t know if the audience could take him seriously after the events of this movie. So it could be fun to see him actually try to be an Avenger.

    Corey Stoll

    Given the ending of the Ant-Man threequel, there’s some uncertainty if they made MODOK a one-and-done villain but with the multiverse at large, they could bring him back in creative ways. Nothing is impossible in the multiverse but there’s a chance the character might become a fan-favcorite given enough time. Quantumania has been fighting its way through critical reception and a more mellowed-out WOM but given time it still has a lot of potentials to become the jumping-off point for some exciting stories.

    Source: ComicBook.com

  • ‘Cocaine Bear’ Rages to Strong $2M Thursday Previews

    ‘Cocaine Bear’ Rages to Strong $2M Thursday Previews

    It’s going to be an exciting weekend for counterprogramming, as while Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is still expected to dominate the weekend, we have two projects trying to make an impression going into the weekend. The one with everyone’s eyes on it is the dark comedy Cocaine Bear directed by Elizabeth Banks (not a joke).

    It’s already off to a strong start with $2M in its Thursday previews. It also has a strong 82% on Rotten Tomatoes with a PostTrak of four stars. It’s likely to join the B horror CinemaScore club alongside M3GAN, which was a standout release earlier this year as counter-programming.

    It should also be noted that the film is higher than Violent Night‘s $1.1.M which managed to grow to $49.8M in the States but not quite M3GAN‘s $2.75M in previews. The former had a strong $13M opening while M3GAN pulled in a 30M opening weekend. So, a potential $20M does seem possible though most predictions still have it at around $15M to $17M. Still, the film based on a true story (also no joke) is going to make a splash at the box office an continue Universal’s steady release of mid-range films pulling strong numbers during the pandemic.

    The only other big opening this weekend is the faith-based Jesus Revolution. It stands at a five-star PostTrak and it has pulled in $2M in its Wednesday previews and added $940K on Thursday. So, it technically pulled in $3.3M since Wednesday but it’ll likely end the weekend at $10M.

    Still, all eyes are on how Quantumania will perform in its second weekend, as while it already stands at $135M domestically, it did not have a robust week after a rather sturdy $14.2M Presidents Day Monday. So, either most of its audiences showed up on the extended weekend and that is why it took a hit, but it dropped to $3.8M on Wednesday and $3.7M this Thursday.

    As of now, expectations range from $35M to $40M which would still be in the usual 60%+ drop for Marvel films that we’ve seen with many others. Box Office pro currently projects around $38M which would be a 64% drop, not the worst in Marvel history. The Friday box office will be the clear indicator of where the film will land. Either way, it’s still expected to hold the top spot for the weekend.

    Source: Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Box Office Pro

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’ Writer Talks Scrapped Cronenberg Ant

    ‘Ant-Man 3’ Writer Talks Scrapped Cronenberg Ant

    It’s not unusual that things end up getting scrapped along the way, but it seems Jeff Loveness had some wacky ideas for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Inan interview with /Film, he highlights that he had an idea to cram some creative ideas into the probability storm, such as Joe Montana, a former NFL quarterback due to Scott Lang being from san Francisco.

    Yet, that isn’t the weirdest idea he had, as his Rick and Morty experience almost made its way into Quantumania, as he pitched a Cronenberg-inspired animatronic that was a man-sized ant that gave Lang a vision of some kind. The best part? he wanted Werner Herzog to voice the character.

    Yeah, what comes to mind … I’m just thrilled I got MODOK and a guy with holes, and I got all that stuff in there. I had a character — [laughs to himself] — in that probability storm, there was going to be like this Cronenberg-style, Stan Winston animatronic, Ninja Turtle guy in a suit that was going to be a man-sized ant that was giving Scott a vision, almost like the goat in “The Witch” or something. I really wanted it to be voiced by Werner Herzog. I got a lot of s*** for my [Alejandro] Jodorowsky comparisons, but I wanted it to be almost like “Holy Mountain,” like, “Where the hell am I?” I was going to have this psychological trippy sequence with the Werner Herzog ant ushering him in, and clearly, that did not make it to the movie.

    Jeff Loveness

    He does say it didn’t make it into the film, but there are enough multiversal opportunities in the future to bring back the Herzog ant. It definitely sounds like a trippy idea and it may have added even more head-scratching elements to this film. Who knows what ideas he might have in store for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Perhaps he’ll finally get the chance to get Werner Herzog to voice or play a different character.

    Source: /Film

  • ‘Ant-Man 3’s MODOK Reveals Was Peyton Reed’s Idea

    ‘Ant-Man 3’s MODOK Reveals Was Peyton Reed’s Idea

    The following article includes major spoilers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Only continue at your own risk.

    There has been much discussed online about the latest Marvel Studios release Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but none have been as surprisingly divisive as the film’s take on MODOK, or better known as the Mental Organism Designed Only for Killing. The film reveals that Darren Cross, once again played by Corey Stoll, was turned into this new creation, and writer Jeff Loveness reveals that this idea was actually from the film’s director, Peyton Reed.

    I believe it was Peyton Reed’s idea to make Darren Cross into MODOK, but I immediately jumped on that and pitched real hard on it. I think we kind of built that character together.

    Jeff Loveness

    He highlights that he’s not sure if there truly was a version of the script written by Paul Rudd before he joined the project but confirms Reed was the man to imagine Cross as an enlarged head with tiny legs and arms. Funny enough, Loveness shared his quite vocal opinion on tacking the character the way he did.

    Let me just say, the people who are divided, they’re wrong. I will go to the mat for MODOK. I am so happy. And it was such a fight. And it was such a labor of love and passion and all that, just to get the comedy balance of this guy. And hey, I’m a big comics guy, I’m sure you are, too. We’re on the internet. People got opinions. Those motherf***ers are wrong. I’m sorry, you want to do a serious take on MODOK? I played that “Avengers” game on PS5, good luck. Yeah, yeah, yeah, come back later.

    Jeff Loveness

    You have to respect a writer that just loves the things he brought to the page, and with a character as out there as MODOK, you have to be all-in. It’s fun to see him reference Marvel’s Avengers which offered a more “grounded” take on a character that usually was mainly a comedic foil. The character got his own animated sitcom, was a recurring joke character in Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, and generally is the butt of many jokes. Loveness triples down as he highlights that MODOK’s death scene was his favorite moment that he ever wrote.

    Source: /Film

  • ‘Quantumania’ Writer Teases the Aftermath of ‘Ant-Man 3’s Post-Credit Sequences

    ‘Quantumania’ Writer Teases the Aftermath of ‘Ant-Man 3’s Post-Credit Sequences

    Post-credit sequences are a tradition for any Marvel Studios production, as they offer a glimpse of what the future has in store. Not just that, but it also plays a big part in setting up the overarching plotline moving forward, which was especially important for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. The introduction of Kang the Conqueror gave us a clear vision of where the future is heading but the first post-credit sequence made one thing clear: the danger is far greater than anyone ever imagined.

    The main theme to get across is that Kang is many things, but he is not a liar. All the hints, threats and warnings he was giving Scott in the middle of the movie turned out to be very true, and Ant-Man, the Wasp and the whole family barely survived beating just one of these Kangs. So, what the hell are the Avengers going to do against a thousand Kangs? And on a villain level, we saw how bad Jonathan Majors was as one Kang, so who was bad enough to beat him? Who’s the Kublai Khan to the Genghis Khan of the Kang Dynasty? Who is the Caesar Augustus to the Julius Caesar of the Roman Empire? Who is clever and cunning and evil enough to take out the dictator of the Kang Dynasty? So it’s a bit of an exponential step up, and it’s a way to show the Avengers are in way over their head. They just don’t know it yet.

    Jeff Loveness

    There was also the tease for the upcoming second season of Loki, which is still without a definite release date. Sadly, it seems Jeff Lovenss didn’t get a chance to write that short sequence and hopes to get a chance to write dialogue for the always-hilarious Owen Wilson.

    Not direct writing. We had discussions with them, and there’s an overarching theme. But no, that team had already been working on their stuff, and it’ll certainly come into play in future movies. But I wrote the mid-credit scene, and that’s a tease of the next Kang appearance. So I haven’t written for Owen Wilson yet. Perhaps one day.

    Jeff Loveness

    The future for Marvel is looking bright, as we’re just about to truly enter the era that many have been waiting for. The Multiverse Saga is taking shape in an unlikely way and Jonathan Majors already promises a villain we won’t easily forget anytime soon.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  • Marvel Studios Still Figuring Out Kang the Conqueror’s MCU Future

    Marvel Studios Still Figuring Out Kang the Conqueror’s MCU Future

    Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania gave us our first real glimpse at the power that is Kang the Conqueror but it seems that they are still figuring out exactly what the future has in store for Jonathan Majors big bad. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the writer for Quantumania and the next Avengers movie, The Kang Dynasty, revealed that they are still trying to figure out what the future has in store for Kang the Conqueror.

    I think I’ve already been killed by Feige for even taking this interview. But we are in the process of figuring that out. I am so far behind on my Avengers script, but I’ll tell you when we’ve got it figured out. We’ve got a plan and we’ve got a story, but the goal right now, without giving too much away, is to show the true versatility and passion that Jonathan Majors has. I truly feel like I’m the luckiest guy in the world because I get to write for the most exciting young actor that I’ve seen in a long, long time. And so the short answer is that I can’t say anything, but the big answer is that Kang is a legion. So let’s see what that legion is like, and let’s get great character performances from the best actor around right now.

    Jeff Loveness

    He does highlight they have a plan and a story, but the details on how we get from Quantumania to The Kang Dynasty, as Loveness may be the most important to shaping Phase 5 and Phase 6. We’re definitely going to have a very interesting story ahead and Majors‘ passion for this character definitely adds quite a lot of excitement for more Kang.

    Source: The Hollywood Reporter