‘Ant-Man’ punches above his weight in debut weekend

LOS ANGELES — Marvel action flick “Ant-Man” proved less can be more as it topped the North American box office tally in its debut over the weekend, industry data showed Monday.

The movie — about a thief-turned-hero who wears special armour that makes him tiny but super strong as he undertakes a mission to save the world — posted sales of $57.2 million, said box office tracker Exhibitor Relations.

Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis admitted that he wished the movie had done a little better, but still praised Marvel as a model of consistency.

“No one else could take what is really an obscure character and launch it in such a big way,” said Hollis. “It’s a sign that they’re doing so much right and that it’s a brand that has overwhelming momentum.”

It unseated the animated comedy “Minions”, a prequel to the “Despicable Me” movies featuring three tiny mischievous creatures. This one came in second with $49.3 million, after racking up $115.7 million last weekend in its debut.

“Minions” tells the story of lozenge-shaped, yellow characters whose goal is to serve the most despicable master they can.

Another movie making its debut — “Trainwreck” with comic Amy Schumer — came in third with $30.1 million in sales. It is about a woman who is wary of steady romantic relationships but falls for a sports doctor.

“Amy Schumer is absolutely a star,” said Nick Carpou, Universal’s domestic distribution chief. “Based on exit polling, after the humour, she’s the second biggest reason people went out to see the film.”

In fourth place was the animated flick “Inside Out”, at $11.5 million.

It features the voice of comedian Amy Poehler and follows young Riley as her emotions of joy, fear, anger, disgust and sadness battle it out internally as she copes with a move to a new city.

“Jurassic World” dropped from second to fifth place, taking in another $11.5 million, bringing the dinosaur movie’s overall total to a huge $611.2 million.

Taking the sixth spot was action-packed sci-fi fantasy “Terminator Genisys”, which brought in $5.4 million in its third weekend.

In seventh position was “Magic Mike XXL”, a dance-themed drama about a former stripper, starring Channing Tatum. It pulled in $4.4 million in theatres over the weekend.

Dropping to eighth place after debuting at number five was Hollywood producer Jason Blum’s latest spine-tingler, “The Gallows”, which took in $4 million.

The movie, which recalls 1999’s “The Blair Witch Project” for its hand-held camera technique, gives young actors Reese Mishler, Pfeifer Brown, Ryan Shoos and Cassidy Gifford their first substantial roles.

“Bajrangi Bhaijaan” — about a speech-impaired girl from Pakistan who gets lost in India and gets help from a kind-hearted man to find her way home to her family — grabbed ninth place, with just over $2.6 million.

Rounding out the top 10 was “Ted 2”, the raunchy sequel to Seth MacFarlane’s comedy about a foul-mouthed teddy bear, which brought in $2.6 million.

Overall box office numbers are still being tallied, but it looks like ticket sales will be up more than 30 per cent over the same period last year. It marks the sixth consecutive weekend of gains, a sign that business is booming at the multiplexes. That cuts both ways, as Disney and Marvel discovered.

“It’s great for the business, but what it means is that it’s more competitive,” said Hollis.