Ant-Man and the Wasp was the first movie in the MCU’s phase 5 and was supposed to kick off exciting things, especially introducing Kang the Conqueror, Marvel’s next big villain. However, the movie was a big disappointment in terms of both the story and its profits.

The drama surrounding Jonathan Majors didn’t help either. Recent industry reports suggest that Kang would be replaced because of the poor reception, even if the actor hadn’t faced any legal issues.

The first reported numbers for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania show that it earned $476.1 million worldwide. This includes $214.5 million from the United States and Canada and $261.6 million from other countries.

Although the movie had a strong opening weekend, making $120.4 million over four days, it did not break even, which was estimated to be around $600 million. The production budget was $388.4 million.

In its second weekend, the earnings dropped significantly to only $32 million, which was the biggest decline for any Marvel film at that time. The movie did well internationally, especially in China, the UK, and Mexico. This is similar to other films, like Venom: The Last Dance, which can struggle in the US but succeed overseas.

However, a recent analysis from Forbes concluded that Quantumania did end up making a small profit. Even though it lost money at the box office, it managed to be profitable due to several key factors.

First, the UK government gives back up to 25.5% of the money spent on filming in the country. Since Quantumania was made in the UK, it received about $58.3 million back from the government. This lowered the movie’s effective cost to around $330.1 million.

Also, the money from ticket sales, merchandise, and home entertainment goes directly to Disney, the studio that made the film, not to the production company that handled the movie’s expenses.

This means that even though the movie didn’t do well in theaters, the overall profits from merchandise and other sales could still cover its costs and lead to a profit.

Taking all of this into account, it’s estimated that the movie earned around $88,000. While that may seem small, it’s still a win because the studio managed to recover some of its losses and make a little profit, which is good in Hollywood accounting.

However, relying on government reimbursements is not a good long-term plan, which is why Ant-Man’s future in the MCU is uncertain. A few months ago, it was reported that the fourth planned movie is now on hold due to the disappointing results of Quantumania.

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