Disney might cut ‘Ant-Man’ down to size

Disney might cut Ant-Man down to size

The Future. Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania had a strong release at the box office. But as Disney tries to streamline its spending — particularly for its Marvel offerings — the franchise could find itself on the chopping block, especially as competing projects break box office records. So much for the little guy.

We’re (not) #1
Thanks to Disney’s unique circumstances, Ant-Man’s best might not be good enough.

• Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania brought in $105 million on opening weekend, outperforming every previous film in its franchise. Not bad for a small fry…

• But it’s nothing next to monsters like Avatar: The Way of Water, which recently surpassed Titanic to become the third-highest-grossing film of all time after Avatar and Avengers: Endgame — both of which are Disney-owned.

• It gets worse… Marvel hits tend to have huge opening weekends, followed by precipitous drops in theater attendance, whereas offerings like Avatar films yield steady returns for months.

Disney’s animation department is in a similar situation, with lackluster 2022 releases pressuring the company to curb its output, potentially axing new projects in favor of safer sequels from established franchises.

Marching one by one
The jury’s out until box office numbers from Ant-Man’s second weekend roll in. But with the imminent release of Marvel films from Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel — two franchises that have historically outperformed Ant-Man — it seems likely that Quantumania could get crushed underfoot.

Disney will need to cut back on these movies if they’re edging out their own releases. They might become a victim of their own success.