NEW YORK (AP) – The gonzo R-rated horror comedy Cocaine Bear sniffed up USD23.1 million in its opening weekend, according to studio estimates on Sunday, while Marvel’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania shrank unusually quickly in its second weekend.
Quantumania was still number one with an estimated USD32.2 million in ticket sales in United States (US) and Canadian theatres.
But the Ant-Man sequel, hit with some of the worst reviews and audience scores of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, dropped a steep 69.7 per cent in its second weekend. That’s the worst decline for an MCU film, falling faster than Black Widow (67.8 per cent), a pandemic release that debuted simultaneously in homes.
Instead, Universal Pictures’ Cocaine Bear rampaged through multiplexes, scoring notably above expectations. Made for about USD35 million and directed by Elizabeth Banks, Cocaine Bear stirred up plenty of buzz just from its title and its made-to-go-viral trailer.
Cocaine Bear, scripted by Jimmy Warden and produced by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse, The Lego Movie), managed to turn a bizarre true-life tale into a tongue-in-cheek box office hit.
It’s based on the real story of a 79-kilogramme black bear who died in the Georgia mountains in 1985 after eating from a duffle bag of cocaine that had fallen from a smuggler’s plane.
The trailer for Cocaine Bear, which played ahead of the Super Bowl, was watched globally by more than 90 million, Universal said, and caught fire on social media. But transferring can-you-believe-that’s-a-real-movie buzz to the box office doesn’t always work. Snakes on a Plane, a movie many compared to Cocaine Bear, opened with USD13.9 million in 2006.
“Audiences discovered this very outrageous, hysterical comedy that our director Elizabeth Banks delivered,” said Universal distribution chief Jim Orr. “The film absolutely delivers on its preposterous premise. People wanted to come out and have a good time at the theatre.”
Cocaine Bear managed to overperform despite mixed reviews from critics and a “B-” CinemaScore from audiences. Ticket buyers were 59 per cent male, and 63 per cent were aged 18-34. It added USD5.3 million overseas. Quantumania is more easily outpacing Cocaine Bear internationally, where it added USD46.4 million over the weekend.
Next week should see a new champ at the box office, with the release of Michael B Jordan’s Creed III.
