As forecasted,Creed 3accomplished whatCocaine Bearcouldn’t, delivering a major knockout punch to Marvel Studios’Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumaniaat the box office by earning nearly $60 million during its premiered weekend from American movie theaters alone.
Creed 3’s success represents a new record for theRockyandCreedfranchise. However, the milestone also underlines the relatively poor performance of Marvel Studios' latest blockbuster afterAnt-Man 3endured the worst second-week drop of any MCU film in history, which could significantly impact its final profit margin. In this round,Creed 3had the advantage of MGM now being an Amazon property. The movie’s release was pushed soMichael B. Jordan’s first moviewould go up against Scott Lang, rather thanBlack Panther: Wakanda Foreverback in November.
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According toDeadline’s box office breakdown,Creed 3’s global earnings combined for a $100.4 million total globally, with $58.6 million coming from the domestic market and the remaining $41.8 million from international moviegoers. On the other hand,Ant-Man 3’s sales kept shrinking afterCocaine Bearhad already bitten off a huge chunk of it last week. That historic 70% contraction in moviegoers is now followed by another disappointing weekend that leaves Marvel Studios' worldwide box office gross fromAnt-Man 3at just $419.5 million.
Overall, the boxing drama’s success can’t be attributed toAnt-Man3’s fall alone.Creed 3has received fantastic reviewsall across the board, meaning Sylvester Stallone’s absence from the ninthRockymovie was not felt at all. The trend guarantees thatQuantumaniawon’t be able to pass 2018’sAnt-Man and the Waspbox office tally of $622.7 million, with most projections calling for it to earn slightly over $500 million total.
Depending on what one considers a sport,Creed 3might be the best debut for a sports film ever, asKarate Kidis one of few othermajor blockbusters in that genre besidesRocky, unlessThe Fast and FuriousorHunger Gamesfranchises are added into the mix. One man who will undoubtedly be smiling about all of this is Jonathan Majors. The actor has been singled out as a standout for his performances in bothAnt-ManandCreed 3, with his bodybuilding journey inMagazine Dreamsalready netting some Oscar buzz.
The boxing momentum should last a couple more weeks forCreed 3, after whichJohn Wick: Chapter 4will take over cinemasfor another action-packed thriller starring Keanu Reeves.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: QuantumaniaandCreed 3are currently available in theaters.
