Marvel's 'Ant-Man' Takes the Weekend Box Office with $58.04 Million

LOS ANGELES - Marvel's "Ant-Man" took the weekend box office crown with a strong opening weekend of $58.04 million, well ahead of its other opening competition, the Amy Schumer comedy "Trainwreck" which opened with a solid $30.20 million for third place.

"Ant-Man" tells the story of con man Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) who is Armed with a super-suit with the astonishing ability to shrink in scale but increase in strength. Lang must embrace his inner hero and help his mentor, Dr. Hank Pym, plan and pull off a heist that will save the world.

The movie showed the limits of Marvel's superhero franchises by opening much stronger than the flop "Elektra," which opened to $12 million in 2005, despite Jennifer Garner starring, but below 2011's "Thor" which opened at $65.7 million. As Marvel goes deep into its comic-book universe, it runs the risk that its somewhat obscure characters may not resonate with the mainstream public. But so far so good.

With three years of planning, pre-producing and production, as well as three directors, several supporting actors and several scriptwriters, "Ant-Man" arrives to a solid opening weekend. Last week's number one film "Minions" came in second with a strong $50.20 million for a two-week total of $216.69 million, with "Trainwreck" in third place.

The rest stacked up this way:

4. "Inside Out" (Disney) $11.66 million for a five-week total of $306.36 million

5. "Jurassic World" (Universal) $11.40 million for a six-week total of $611.17 million

6. "Terminator: Genysis" (Paramount) $5.40 million for a two-week total of $80.64 million

7. "Magic Mike XXL" (Warner Bros.) $4.50 million for 3-week total of $68.54 million

8. "The Gallows" (Warner Bros.) $4.0 million for a 2-week total of $18.01 million

9. "Ted 2" (Universal) $2.70 million for a 4-week total of $77.46 million

10. "Mr. Holmes" (Roadside Attractions) $2.49 million opening