Ant-Man and the Wasp crushed by Mamma Mia 2 at UK box office as delayed release backfires

The Marvel film is said to have grossed £3.8m in the country in the Friday-Saturday-Sunday window, rallying to £5m once previews of £1.2 million are factored in.

According to Screen Daily, Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again triumphed over the weekend, pulling in £4.1 million – a narrow victory, and one that only stands if one disregards Ant-Man and the Wasp’s pre-weekend preview takings.

Mamma Mia 2 has now made £39.3 million here – a very impressive feat by any metric, but still some distance away from the first film’s hefty £68.6 million.

The fact the film has sustained staying power over its three weeks on release points to positive word-of-mouth for the ABBA hit-packed musical, which is also holding up well in repeat visits.

As for Ant-Man and the Wasp, it’s noted that only The Incredible Hulk (£3.3m) and Captain America (£3m) had lower openings for MCU movies in the UK.

Possible reasons include the fact that hot weather returned to the country over the weekend, and the fact that hype around the film peaked around the time of its UK release – which was four weeks earlier.

The domination of the World Cup was thought to be a huge factor in Marvel’s decision to release the sequel a whole month later in the UK, although that may have ended up backfiring.

Evangeline Lily, who plays the Wasp, had previously voiced her disapproval of the staggered rollout.

“They always do that,” she told Empire. “Then what happens is people just pirate the movie and they see it in the worst way possible, like some shitty version online, instead of going to a theatre.

“They go in the end, but I don’t like that staggering. I’m really going to get to the bottom of this for you. I’m as p****d off about it as you are.”

Elsewhere in the UK, Mission: Impossible – Fallout dropped to third place with £2.5 million in its second week, while Incredibles 2 took £2.4 million in its fourth week to finish at No4.

Over in the US, Mission: Impossible – Fallout holds for a second week despite a 42% drop in takings, taking $35 million to bring its total to $124.5 million.

Christopher Robin follows in second with a $25 million debut, while new comedy The Spy Who Dumped Me takes third with $12.4 million.

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again is in fourth place with $9 million, bringing its US total to $91.3 million, while The Equalizer 2 drops to fifth with $8.8 million for a $79.9 million total.