'Ant-Man' takes small box-office victory

In the battle of the tiny box-office heroes, Ant-Man took the win over knee-high Minions.

The new superhero movie starring Paul Rudd took the top spot for the weekend with $58 million, the 12th consecutive No. 1 debut for a film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The numbers weren't as strong as originally forecast and less than Avengers-esque, but it was a victory for Marvel. Ant-Man also opened to an impressive additional $56 million internationally.

"When you are introducing a C-list character from the Marvel universe like Ant-Man, they have to be pleased with these numbers," says Jeff Bock, box office analyst for Exhibitor Relations. "What people expect from Marvel is very different now. But Ant-Man will join the Avengers squad going forward? And will there be an Ant-Man sequel? We'll see how this holds out."

Distributor Walt Disney blamed the reduced numbers on stormy skies Saturday. "Severe weather in parts of the Midwest and rain in Southern California appear to have slowed grosses," says Dave Hollis, executive vice president of theatrical distribution for Disney.

The earnings are sizable for a production that had problems early on, with original director Edgar Wright stepping away from the film before filming began in 2014, replaced by Peyton Reed.

Ant-Man scored a 79% approval rating with critics on survey site RottenTomatoes.com, and audiences gave it an A grade on CinemaScore.

The animated Minions added $50.2 million over the weekend to a stellar $115.7 million opening last weekend for a 10-day total of $216.7 million.

"It's really impressive. All during the week, it was performing really well," says Paul Dergarabedian, senior box-office analyst for Rentrak. "It was a midweek box-office monster, not just a weekend box-office monster."

Amy Schumer's R-rated Trainwreck impressed in its debut with $30.2 million.

"This really does prove that Amy Schumer has arrived," says Bock. "This will send ripples across the movie industry."

Trainwreck, which featured co-starring performances by Bill Hader and LeBron James, scored an 85% critical approval rating on RottenTomatoes.com and audiences graded it an A-minus on CinemaScore.

Pixar's animated Inside Out took the fourth spot with an additional $11.6 million to pass $300 million in total box office — making it the third-highest-grossing Pixar film behind Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo.

"And it's still in theaters and climbing," says Dergarabedian.

Jurassic World rounded out the top five with an additional $11.3 million, bringing its domestic box office to $611 million. With a worldwide total of $1.513 billion, Jurassic passes Furious 7's $1.512 billion and becomes the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time.

Final figures are expected Monday.