Box Office Report: Get in Line

It’s not a surprise that a Marvel film is still at the top of the box office in its second week. Alas, nobody predicted the victory of Cocaine Bear for a reason. Yet all was not well in the world of the MCU. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is still the highest-grossing film of the past week at the American box office, but not by much. In its sophomore week, it saw close to a 70% drop in attendance from its premiere, bringing in around $32.2 million. That’s a new record for a Marvel Studios flick. It opened strong enough despite middling reviews and a general disinterest in its title characters, but that weak word-of-mouth certainly made an impact. But don’t cry for Kevin Feige, for Quantumania still has over $363 million in the bank worldwide, and the franchise’s next installment, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, is expected to be huge.

And then there’s Cocaine Bear, a movie that’s about, well, you know what. A strong marketing campaign and an irresistible hook gave Elizabeth Banks’ frenetic comedy-thriller a $23.09 million opening from 3,534 theaters. People knew what they wanted from this film and what they were going to get. It’s simple high-concept filmmaking and they did it without a slew of Chrises or promise of a multiverse.

At number three is Jesus Revolution, a faith-based drama about the kid of the man upstairs. Christian movies are often safe bets, but not always. This one benefitted from good word-of-mouth and decent reviews, so it opened to $15.5 million from 2,475 theaters. Man, what a choice this past weekend: Jesus or coke.

In limited news: The Indian film Selfiee made $203,000 from 308 cinemas; horror film Bunker brought in $76,727 from 225 locations; the Irish drama The Quiet Girl, which is nominated for Best International Film at this year’s Oscars, grossed $60,000 from six theaters. This coming week sees the release of Operation Fortune: Ruse de guerre and yet another take on Children of the Corn.

You can check out the rest of the weekend box office here.