Ant-Man still top of the box office despite pesky Pixels

Marvel's Ant-Man was never meant to be a box office blockbuster like The Avengers or even surprise hit Guardians of the Galaxy but it still clung on, insect-like, to the number one spot at the box office in the US this past weekend.

The film took a further $24.765 million which also means it passed the $100 million in North America. That's pretty good news for everyone involved, especially when you consider the production issues behind the film and the fact that its the cheapest Marvel flick to date with a cost of just $130 million. And the news gets even better worldwide, with the film now over $226 million and with major territories like China and Japan yet to come.

And Ant-Man may not be a major hit but it still managed to stomp on newcomer Pixels. The Adam Sandler starrer debuted at number 2 in the US with $24 million. That's lower than recent Sandman efforts like Jack and Jill, Just Go With It and Grown Up 2 - which somehow earned $41 million. And Pixels was also coming to bat with a huge number of videogame cameos which was surely intended to bring in the nostalgic crowd.

Minions was third with a further $22 million which means it's at a massive $760 million worldwide. That makes it yet another hit for Universal in the wake of Furious 7, Jurassic World and Pitch Perfect. They're having one heck of a year. Fourth went to Judd Apatow's Trainwreck which has a relatively low budget and has now earned more than $60 million just in the US. It opens in Ireland on 14th of August.

One box office surprise was the middling performance of Paper Towns, the latest adaptation by The Fault in Our Star author John Green. It did just over $12 million in the States despite some decent word of mouth, Green's backing and the popularity of central players Nat Wolff and Cara Delevigne. That's its entire production budget though and it could still have legs.

Jake Gyllenhaal's Southpaw was in fifth (just ahead of Paper Towns), while Inside Out and Jurassic World continued their run at 7th and 8th respectively. Jurassic World also just became the third highest grossing film in the US of all time with $624 million domestic. And Mr Holmes earned more than Terminator Genisys this weekend to round out the top 10.