6TH UPDATE, Sunday 10:14AM after 8AM post: After a lengthy three years which saw a change-up in two directors, various screenwriters and supporting actors, Marvel’s Ant-Man finally opened to $58M. Industry figures for the Disney release are at $57.37M. Worldwide, the pic with a $114.4M opening is less than a $1M shy of where we were expecting it to be. While the domestic figure surely isn’t the bomb that Elektra was ($12.8M), it’s a bow that is at the lower end of the superhero spectrum we’ve come to expect from Marvel; arriving in lower than its comps Thor ($65.7M) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($65.1M). Ant-Man though is higher than the bow of The Incredible Hulk ($55.4M), which despite two attempts by Marvel, never really took off as a franchise in the Iron Man sense of the word.

As Marvel plunges into the depths of its comic-book universe, the risk it runs with these fringe characters is that the mainstream public is going to be clueless about them; hence if franchises are going to be hatched, the story’s resonance has to rise above the brand; like it did with last summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Marvel knew it had a hit on its hands with Guardians ($94.3M), confidently announcing a sequel at last year’s Comic-Con before the film opened. No word yet on Ant-Man 2.

Interestingly enough, Disney launched a three-piece one-sheet campaign in early June, showing Ant-Man next to recognizable Marvel icons Iron-Man, Thor’s hammer and Captain America’s shield with the tag-line “No Shield. No Hammer. No Problem.” It was as though they wanted to remind everyone, ‘Hey, this little guy actually belongs with these guys.’ Per Disney, 58% of Ant-Man‘s crowd were men, 55% were over 25. Teens turned out at 13%. As previously reported, those audiences taking in Ant-Man enjoyed it, giving it an A CinemaScore, the same grade as Guardians of the Galaxy and Iron Man.

Why did Guardians beat Ant-Man in regards to lesser-known Marvel properties at the B.O.? Putting aside the fact that Guardians was a kick-ass epic movie with a hip cast, and a rockin’ retro soundtrack, Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis points out that in hindsight Guardians reaped the benefits of playing during the first weekend of August, just before kids went back to school. “It was the last big film being made available at a time that was less competitive. The surprise theme of this summer has been the overperformance of the (holdover) hits. It’s great for the industry, but inevitably on an opening weekend, it makes it more competitive.” The majors, despite serving up fresh films, are still running into the powerful play-ability of Jurassic World (which now stands as the fourth highest film of all-time at the domestic B.O. with $611.1M), Inside Out (which crossed the three-century mark with $306.4M) and of course, Minions which grossed $50.2M in its second frame. One distrib insider pointed out that Minions was beating Ant-Man last night, and typically it’s the reverse scenario with animated pic grosses receding come nightfall. Superhero films, on the other hand, are expected to rise from their matinee grosses.

Relish Mix points out that on social media, Marvel and Disney flooded the web with over 30 Ant-Man trailers and clips, but fans haven’t been reposting at Furious 7 rates. The 10 to 1 video repost rate is moderate per the social media tracking firm. Ant-Man‘s social media universe counts 106M comprised of 92M YouTube view activity, 8.1M Facebook video views and 5.4M Twitter reach. The film’s FB counts 528K likes. Among the stars, Rudd doesn’t have a presence on social media. The guys with the biggest footprint are much older: Michael Douglas counts 1.4M Facebook fans, while Stan Lee has 4.7M. #AntMan Twitter hashtags popped last week during the London Premiere to 9k and began resurfacing to the 8K range before the pic’s previews last Thursday.

Nonetheless, Disney is content with the results of Ant-Man. Though Ant-Man fell below its $60M estimate at 3,856 theaters, the film did continue Marvel’s hot streak in regards to bowing at No. 1, giving the comic book label its 12th consecutive win. It also reps the biggest live-action opening ever for Rudd (his previous? Knocked Up at $30.7M). It is also a record career bow for Douglas. For Disney, Ant-Man, which drew 28% families, expanded the comic-book brand’s allure to that demo, besting the family turnouts of Avengers: Age of Ultron (22%) and Captain America: Winter Soldier (19%). The movie has some enlarging capabilities from Imax auditoriums which contributed $6.1M at 361 hubs. Eight of the top 10 grossing theaters for Ant-Man were in Imax. And 42% of Ant-Man‘s box office came from 3D. Premium large format screens repped 9.5% of the movie’s FSS with $5.5M. Cinemark XD made $1.3M, while Regal PLFs generated $935K.

Universal owned slots two and three this weekend with the second weekend of Illumination Entertainment’s Minions (industry figures are at $50.19M) and director Judd Apatow’s second biggest bow of all-time, Trainwreck which grossed $30.2M. Minions’ weekend, which was down 57%, is the largest sophomore frame of the three Despicable Me films. Minions has shown its strength in a variety of markets such as Montreal, Quebec, New York City and McLean, Virginia.

Trainwreck, written by and starring Amy Schumer, beats the bow of Apatow’s raunchy female production Bridesmaids ($26.2M). From the onset in tracking older women were making a date to see Trainwreck. 63% of the film’s crowd was over 30 with females repping 66% of the audience. Eight of the top 10 markets for Trainwreck were either LA or NYC.

The feature theatrical bow of comedienne Amy Schumer as both headliner and screenwriter comes hot off her earning seven Emmy noms on Thursday for her Comedy Central show Inside Amy Schumer. She has put herself and her cast front and center for the promotion of the film: During the month of June, they hit six cities with the Trainwreck Comedy Tour. While Schumer’s Star Wars theme magazine cover for GQ created a lot of buzz online, the social media universe for the film stands at 101.M inclusive of 65.7M on Facebook and 33.6M on Twitter per RelishMix. #Trainwreck Twitter hashtags hovered around 1,000 all week and swung up to 5k by last Thursday. Trainwreck got some tubthumping from castmember, WWE wrestler John Cena who counts 37M FB fans and 7M Twitter followers, Cleveland Cavaliers NBA star LeBron James’ 21M FB and 22M Twitter, Schumer’s 1.4M Twitter fans and 851K FB fans, as well as Apatow’s 1.24M Twitter followers. Schumer has been generously re-tweeting her fans’ reactions to Trainwreck throughout the weekend. Here’s what Jessica Alba posted:

So @amyschumer movie #Trainwreck is hilarious and brilliant -I love her so much! Here's a pic of the homies at the 🎬💃 pic.twitter.com/PWhObfkqpx — Jessica Alba (@jessicaalba) July 18, 2015

Among second weeknds, Blumhouse horror pic The Gallows raised its cume to $18M and Focus Features’ sci-fi pic Self/Less declined 58% with $2.29M. The big huzzahs at the bottom of the chart belong to arthouse films Mr. Holmes from Roadside Attractions/Miramax and Eros’ Bajrangi Bhaijaan. Mr. Holmes uncovered $2.49M at 363 venues, turning in a fantastic per theater of $6,856. The film also scored an A- CinemaScore with WOM contributing to its 59% Friday-to-Saturday gain. The Ian McKellen film heads into an estimated 650 theaters this Friday. Sony Pictures Classics’ Woody Allen film Irrational Man scored a $38K per theater off five New York and L.A. playdates.

Total ticket sales this weekend came out to be $195M according to Rentrak, up a huge 31% over the same frame a year ago. Total 2015 ticket sales are at $6.37B, +8.9% over the January 1 – July 19 span in 2014.

The top 10 films for July 17-19 per studio-reported estimates as compiled by Deadline’s Amanda N’Duka:

1). Ant-Man (DIS), 3,856 theaters / $22.6M Fri. */ $19.4M Sat. (-14%) / $15.96M Sun. (-18%) / 3-day cume: $58M / Wk 1

*includes Thursday previews

Industry weekend figure: $57.3M

2). Minions (UNI), 4311 theaters (+10)/ $14.6M Fri. / $20.3M Sat. (+39%) / $15.4M Sun. (-24%) /3-day cume: $50.25M (-57%)/Total Cume: $216.7M / Wk 2

Industry weekend figure: $50.19M

3). Trainwreck (UNI), 3,158 theaters / $10.7M Fri. */$11M Sat. (+3%) / $8.5M Sun. (-23%) / 3-day cume: $30.2M / Wk 1

*includes Thursday previews

Industry weekend figure: $30.46M

4). Inside Out (DIS), 3,263 theaters (-381)/ $3.4M Fri. /$4.8M Sat. (+43%) / $3.45M Sun. (-29%) / 3-day cume: $11.66M (-34%) /Total cume: $306.36M/ Wk 5

Industry weekend figure: $11.62M

5). Jurassic World (UNI), 3,117 theaters (-324) / $3.2M Fri. /$4.8M Sat. (+48%) / $3.4M Sun. (-30%) / 3-day cume: $11.4M (-37%) /Total cume: $611.1M/ Wk 6

Industry weekend figure: $11.4M

6). Terminator: Genisys (PAR), 2,814 theaters (-969) / $1.46M Fri. / $2.25M Sat. (+54%) / $1.7M Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $5.4M (-61%) / Total cume: $80.6M/ Wk 3

Industry figure: $5.4M

7). Magic Mike XXL (WB), 2,577 theaters (-799)/ $1.7M Fri. /$1.7M Sat. (+1%) / $1.2M Sun. (-30%) / 3-day cume: $4.5M (-53%) /Total cume: $58.6M/ Wk 3

Industry figure: $4.5M

8). The Gallows (WB), 2,720 theaters (0) / $1.3M Fri. / $1.6M Sat. (+18%) / $1.1M Sun. (-30%) /3-day cume: $4M (-59%) / Total cume: $18M /Wk 2

Industry figure: $4M.

9). Ted 2 (UNI), 1,582 theaters (-589)/ $783K Fri. /$1.1M Sat. (+38%) / $814K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $2.7M (-53%)/ Total cume: $77.4M /Wk 4

Industry figure: $2.7M.

10). Mr. Holmes (RSA/Miramax), 363 theaters / $650K Fri. /$1M Sat. (+54%) / $808K Sun. (-22%) / 3-day cume: $2.488M / Wk 1

Industry figure: $2.4M

11).Bajrangi Bhaijaan (ERO), 256 theaters / $742K Fri. / $1.1M Sat. (+48%) / $713K Sun. (-35%) /3-day cume: $2.4M /Wk 1

Industry: $2.52M.

12) Self/Less (FOC), 2,353 theaters (0)/ $663K Fri./$931K Sat (+40%)/$698K Sun (-25%)/ 3-day cume: $2.29M (-58%)/ Total cume: $10.36M /Wk 2

Notables:

Amy (A24), 435 theaters (+94) / $294K Fri. / $463 Sat. (+58%) / $348K Sun. (-25%) /3-day cume: $1.1M (-39%)/ Total cume: $4.2M/ Wk 3

Irrational Man (SPC), 5 theaters / $52K Fri. / $73K Sat. (+38%) / $63K Sun. (-14%) /3-day cume: $188K / Per screen avg. $38K/ Wk 1

Northern Limit Line (WLGO), 13 theaters / $30K Fri. / $41K Sat. (+36%) / $29K Sun. (-30%) /3-day cume: $101K /Wk 1

The Stanford Prison Experiment (IFC), 2 theaters / $10K Fri. /$17 Sat. (+65%) / $12K Sun. (-25%) / 3-day cume: $39K / Per screen avg. $20K /Wk 1

5th UPDATE, Saturday 11:54PM: Ant-Man‘s super ability to enlarge isn’t working so well at the box office. After posting an estimated $23.4M on Friday, inclusive of $6.4M Thursday previews, the Marvel superhero fell 18% today for a daily cume of $19.25M. This puts Ant-Man‘s opening between $56M-$58M. Here in Los Angeles and the southwest, there’s been freak thunderstorms. But don’t blame the weather. Given the nature of fanboys to show up in bulk on opening day, the industry projected a down Saturday for Ant-Man, not to mention forecasts on Friday already indicated there was a chance Ant-Man would open under $60M.

In addition, moviegoing was up for the top films Saturday vs. Friday. Uni’s Minions made an estimated $20M today, up 36% over yesterday. The pic’s second weekend stands at an estimated $49.5M. The studio’s Judd Apatow movie, Trainwreck, which was expected to decline today, actually went up 4% with its weekend take now at $30.15M. In addition, Jurassic World saw a Saturday spike over Friday of 57% while Inside Out was up 50%.

While people were forced off the SoCal beaches today for fear of being struck by lightning, L.A. movie ticket sales were up more than Chicago per one distrib insider. Not to mention, rain drives people into theaters, not away from it.

4TH UPDATE, Saturday 8:26AM after 1:30AM update: There’s a chance that Disney Marvel’s Ant-Man could fall under its $60M weekend estimate with an FSS of $58M.

Is that so bad?

The offbeat superhero has had a long, bumpy path to the big screen with directors switching during its pre-production from Edgar Wright to Peyton Reed, all along stirring up skepticism in the industry about the property’s potential to deliver.

Rival distrib sources say it’s not a big deal if Ant-Man falls just a bit short of $60M, especially given the safety net of foreign. But, this is the risk that Marvel runs at the B.O. when they go to the farthest reaches of the universe and turn any of their lesser known superheros (to Joe Shmoe public) into movies. Guardians of the Galaxy ($94.3M opening) was a zany batch of superheroes, more well known to fanboys. Marvel made it work as an epic concept with characters that resonated with the masses. Ant-Man, arguably, is a bit one note in its shrinking and expanding gimmick. But, man, you can’t say that Marvel didn’t spend its time trying to crack this one given its two-year plus development process.

In addition to Ant-Man, Universal’s Trainwreck was also down from its industry projection ($30M), currently showing an estimated bow of $28.4M. Friday’s $10.75M was still the best opening day for a Judd Apatow film; as of right now Trainwreck is looking to be Apatow’s second highest bow at the B.O. after Knocked Up ($30.69M). It’s not like audiences are upset in the least about either new entry: Ant-Man received a solid A CinemaScore while Trainwreck was graded an A-.

If Ant-Man or Trainwreck overperform their current weekend estimates, they’ll need today’s grosses to beat Friday’s returns. Most distrib sources see both titles’ B.O. as frontloaded given the tendency of their respective crowds – fanboys and females – to show up in droves on opening day. The estimated slide for both titles from Friday to Saturday is estimated to be -10%, which still isn’t bad.

If Ant-Man underperforms slightly, it certainly isn’t a repeat of summer 2011 when DC Comics’ cult hero Green Lantern poisoned the box office with a $200M production cost, a $55M domestic bow and even less than par returns abroad ($103.3M foreign B.O. to $116.6M stateside).

What type of opening weekend does it take to completely kill off a Marvel superhero’s future on the big screen? Looking back, 20th Century Fox’s Daredevil spinoff Elektra chopped off the legs of that franchise with a horrible bow of $12.8M (and that pic was cheap at an estimated cost of $43M). Today, Daredevil lives successfully on Netflix. Though Ant-Man’s estimated production cost of $130M is at a tentpole size, it’s slightly lower than the costs of its comps, Thor ($150M) and Captain America: The First Avenger ($140M). Assures one non-Disney distribution executive, “Ant-Man will make over three times its opening.”

Underscoring that point is the fact that an A CinemaScore carries with it a 3.6 multiple, in regards to a film’s opening B.O. versus its final cume. Audiences embraced Ant-Man just as much as the feature debuts of Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy (both earned As). Ant-Man also fared better than Captain America: The First Avenger (A- CinemaScore) and Thor (B+). As reported earlier by Rentrak PostTrak, Ant-Man is biting a majority of younger guys under 25.

“Marvel knows their audiences well. Their stories aren’t drowning in darkness; the studio knows how to strike the right mix of action and comedy, and that’s why Ant-Man is poised to do well,” said another major studio distribution chief. While Ant-Man is PG-13, it’s not as scary as DC’s Dark Knight pics, therefore it has the potential to hook families as well.

Universal has the No. 2 and No. 3 weekend B.O. spots respectively with Minions and Judd Apatow’s R-rated Amy Schumer romantic comedy Trainwreck. Illumination Entertainment’s banana obsessed critters are posting an estimated Friday of $14.6M, down 68% from a week ago. That’s because Minions $46M first day included Thursday preview money of $6.2M, the biggest latenight gross ever for an animated film. Minions’ second weekend of $47.3M reps a 59% fall. True, that’s steeper than the sophomore sesh drops of Despicable Me and Despicable Me 2, however, those films didn’t open to the magnitude that this spin-off did. DM2‘s second weekend of -47% is attributed to the fact that it was a Wednesday opener in its first frame, hence grosses were spread out during its first five days, allowing for a softer drop in weekend two. Minions is crossing the $200M milestone this weekend while Disney Pixar’s Inside Out will eclipse the $300M mark.

Trainwreck‘s CinemaScore is higher than the B+ earned both by Knocked Up and the Apatow-produced femme megahit Bridesmaids. Knocked Up posted a 4.9 multiple with a final cume of $148.8M and Bridesmaids generated an amazing 6.4 multiple with a final domestic B.O. of $169.1M. Expect Trainwreck to have a great, long journey this summer. Rentrak pointed out earlier that the majority of older females are turning out because they love Emmy-nominated Comedy Central star Schumer.

Last weekend’s entry The Gallows is seeing a standard horror film drop of 60% with an estimated $3.9M FSS, while Focus Features’ sci-fi pic Self/Less looking at the same drop with an estimated weekend of $2.17M.

Friday’s estimated $22.5M haul for Ant-Man is just under the first day of Thor ($25.5M) and the first Captain America ($25.7M). Through thick and thin, Marvel was determined to bring the story of Scott Lang to the big screen. Ant-Man’s lengthy behind-the-scenes pre-production served unintentionally as promotion for the film as Marvel fans patiently waited.

Director Edgar Wright had a chance to move forward with Ant-Man in 2011. He even had Hall H audiences at Comic-Con 2012 salivating over technology footage of Ant-Man shrinking and growing. However, Wright put Ant-Man on hold to make The World’s End given a promise he made to that film’s producer, Working Title’s Eric Fellner, who was diagnosed with cancer.

At one point Marvel considered Joseph Gordon-Levitt for the title role, but they ultimately locked down comedy leading guy Paul Rudd in Dec. 2013. Some scratched their chins over that choice: Would Ant-Man be more Green Hornet than Captain America? However, in the end Rudd’s comedic sensibilities fit the role like a pair of superhero tights (in addition to the A CinemaScore, Ant-Man was given a hug by critics with a Rotten Tomatoes score of 80% fresh). In January 2014, Marvel booked Michael Douglas to play Rudd’s mentor, Hank Pym, who creates the shrinking technology and in the original comic book is the first Ant-Man. By May 2013, Wright and Marvel parted ways due to creative differences. Marvel decided that they wanted to take Wright and Joe Cornish’s script in a different direction. Joss Whedon (who had a Twitter account at the time) tweeted out his support of Wright with a photo of him holding up a Cornetto ice cream cone (in reference to the director’s action comedy trilogy). Adam McKay was briefly in talks by May 2014 to direct but couldn’t commit due to his schedule. He did agree to put his mark on the script, with Peyton Reed in the director’s chair by June 7, 2014. Cameras rolled on Aug. 18 in Atlanta. A photo of Rudd in the film surfaced on Aug. 19, with a teaser trailer dropping in early January.

Other bright spots this weekend include Roadside Attractions/Miramax’s critically acclaimed period piece Mr. Holmes from director Bill Condon. The film follows an aged Sherlock Holmes grappling with an unsolved case involving a beautiful woman. Mr. Holmes looks to discover $2.4M in ninth plac e $2.25M at 363 venues. Per industry estimates yesterday, it appeared the film was cracking the top 10, however, it’s now at No. 11 due to the tight fight at the bottom of the chart. Still, it’s strong arthouse counter-programming from Roadside after the Brian Wilson biopic Love & Mercy which has grossed $11.7M at the domestic B.O.

Breaking into the top 10 per Saturday AM numbers is Eros’ Bajrangdi Bhaijaan. Directed by Kabir Khan, the film follows a young Pakistani mute girl who gets lost in India, only to be saved by a man who reunites her with her family.

Woody Allen’s comedy Irrational Man about an alcoholic philosophy professor who murders a small town judge is on track to gross an estimated $180K at five theaters. The Sony Classics movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May in the out of competition category.

The top 10 films per industry estimates as compiled by Deadline’s Amanda N’Duka (with Saturday revisions):

1). Ant-Man (DIS), 3,856 theaters / $23.4M Fri. / 3-day cume: $58M / Wk 1

2). Minions (UNI), 4,311 theaters (+10)/ $14.5M Fri. (-68%)/ 3-day cume: $47.3M (59%)/Total Cume: $213.8M / Wk 2

3). Trainwreck (UNI), 3,158 theaters / $10.75M Fri. / 3-day cume: $28.4M / Wk 1

4). Jurassic World (UNI), 3,117 theaters (-324) / $3.1M Fri. (-42%) / 3-day cume: $10.6M (-42%) /Total cume: $610.4M/ Wk 6

5). Inside Out (DIS), 3,263 theaters (-381)/ $3.3M Fri. (-40%)/ 3-day cume: $10.57M (-40%) /Total cume: $305.3M/ Wk 5

6). Terminator: Genisys (PAR), 2,814 theaters (-969) / $1.45M Fri. (-64%) / 3-day cume: $5M (-64%) / Total cume: $80.2M/ Wk 3

7). Magic Mike XXL (WB), 2,577 theaters (-799)/ $1.64M Fri. (-54%)/ 3-day cume: $4.5M (-53%) /Total cume: $58.6M/ Wk 3

8). The Gallows (WB), 2,720 theaters (0) / $1.3M Fri. (-71%)/ 3-day cume: $3.9M (-60%) / Total cume: $17.9M /Wk 2

9). Ted 2 (UNI), 1,582 theaters (-589)/ $762K Fri. (-57%) / 3-day cume: $2.35M (-59%)/ Total cume: $77.1M /Wk 4

10.) Bajrangi Bhaijaan (ERO), 256 theaters / $743K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.26M /Wk 1

11). Mr. Holmes (RSA/Miramax), 363 theaters / $649K Fri. / 3-day cume: $2.25M / Wk 1

12) Self/Less (FOC), 2,353 theaters (0)/ $660K Fri. (-66%) / 3-day cume: $2.17M (-60%)/ Total cume: $10.2M /Wk 2

Notables:

Irrational Man (SPC), 5 theaters / $58K Fri. / 3-day cume: $180K /Wk 1

Northern Limit Line (WLGO), 13 theaters / $26K Fri. / 3-day cume: $83K /Wk 1

Stanford Prison Experiment (IFC), 2 theaters / $8K Fri. / 3-day cume: $24K /Wk 1

2ND UPDATE, 1:05 PM: Early afternoon estimates are showing Ant-Man with a low-to-mid $20M Friday putting it on course for a high $50M to low $60M weekend. Meanwhile, Universal’s Trainwreck is showing signs that it could potentially become director Judd Apatow’s biggest opening at the domestic B.O. with a mid $30M weekend, besting 2007’s Knocked Up which made $30.7M. The studio’s other heavy hitter, Minions looked like it could possibly be eating Ant-Man‘s lunch at the box office. At this point in time, the little yellow pills are bound to have a Friday that’s mid-to-high teens, putting it at No. 2 with a low-to-mid $50M take.

According to Rentrak’s PostTrak audience poll, 52% of those watching Ant-Man are under 25, with males dominating auditoriums at 60%. It earned a 4 out of 5 star ratings with a 61% definite recommend from guys and 55% from the ladies. 24% of those buying tickets to Ant-Man did so because it’s a comic book film. As forecasted, Trainwreck is pulling in older women who are repping 58% of the film’s crowd. Women overall are turning up at 67%. The Amy Schumer headliner earned a 3.5 out of 5 stars with 60% females giving it a definite recommend and 53% males as well. The primary reason why they’re attending? 31% said it’s because of Schumer.

1ST UPDATE, 8AM: Disney is reporting Marvel’s new superhero film Ant-Man with a $6.4M Thursday preview B.O. That’s a number which is right below Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World‘s $7.1M Thursday kick-off and above the $4M generated by 2013’s The Wolverine. Insiders believe that the Paul Rudd superhero film has a shot at opening in the low $60Ms, a range that’s not uncommon for the start of a Marvel franchise, i.e. the bows for Captain America: The First Avenger ($65M) and Thor ($65.7M). The Imax and premium large format showtimes repped 48% of Ant-Man’s ticket sales last night. Imax’s share of Thursday night’s B.O. was 16%. Portions of Ant-Man weave itself into the Avengers‘ epic plot line that Marvel has spread throughout its films (read, Agent Carter and Howard Stark make cameos).

Judd Apatow’s R-rated raunchy romantic comedy Trainwreck pulled into 2,363 theaters last night, grossing $1.8M. That figure beats the $1.5M that Spy posted in its Thursday preview. The Paul Feig film was this summer’s first R-rated comedy, but it’s below the $2.6M that Ted 2 made at 2,647 venues. Trainwreck kicked off at 2,363 8 PM shows. Hot off Trainwreck star and scribe Amy Schumer’s Emmy nomination yesterday, industry estimates figure the comedy to make $20M-$22M this weekend. Yesterday, Fandango reported that pre-sales to Trainwreck were besting those for Spy and Ted 2 at the same point in their sales cycle. Older women are the shoo-in crowd here.

Last night, among all films at the Thursday B.O., Uni/Illumination Entertainment’s Minions topped the charts with $9.5M at 4,301 and a seven-day take of $166.5M. Disney Pixar’s Inside Out was second with an estimated $2.2M at 3,644 and a running cume of $294.7M.