Ant-Man towers over Trainwreck and Minions at the US box office as it leads in earnings with $58million’

Published: 20:08 EST, 19 July 2015 | Updated: 02:57 EST, 20 July 2015

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It was a larger-than-life weekend for the world’s smallest hero.

Ant-Man – the latest superhero saga from the Marvel Universe – opened on Friday and the tiny crime-fighter beat out the competition, raking in an estimated $58 million.

Starring Paul Rudd, 46, in his first-ever superhero role, the film surpassed heavy-hitters like comedy giant Judd Apatow’s Trainwreck and the Despicable Me spin-off Minions.

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Big opening, little hero: Ant-Man - the latest superhero film from the Marvel Universe - topped out the weekend's box office with $58 million

The result for Ant-Man didn't match some of Marvel's better known and brawnier properties, but the film — a relatively inexpensive superhero movie with a $130 million budget — still dominated North American multiplexes.

Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer as a serial monogamist who finds herself in a relationship, came in third place for the weekend, earning $30.2 million. The opening showing is a second best for director Apatow, falling just shy of Knocked Up’s $30.6 million.

And the adored yellow henchman from Despicable Me came in second place for the Minions movie with $50.2 million, adding to their massive opening last weekend of $115 million.

Co-stars: The film follows Rudd as Scott Lang, a master thief recently released from prison, who is enlisted by Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym to don a stature-shrinking suit and fight the evil Yellowjacket who possesses a similar power

Dave Hollis, head of distribution at Disney, credited Marvel for successfully expanding its universe both in tone and audience makeup. The movie, a more humorous heist film, appealed more to women (42 percent of the audience) and families (28 percent) than most Marvel releases.

‘Most encouragingly in this one, the exit scores we're seeing from women — their likelihood to recommend and how much they enjoyed the film — was higher here than almost any film we've had,’ Hollis said. ‘It's a great sign for what word of mouth should be for the run, but, two, what it means for how women think about these movies being for them as much as men might.’

And although an Ant-Man 2 remains unconfirmed, Rudd is slated to reprise the role for a cameo alongside other Marvel Universe alums in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War.

Second place: Minions - a spin-off film from Despicable Me - took the second place spot at the box office, adding $50.2 million to their massive opening last weekend of $115 million

Third place: Judd Apatow's Trainwreck, starring Amy Schumer, Bill Hader and LeBron James, came in third place for the weekend with $30.6 million

Critics are calling Ant-Man’s departure from the typical superhero narrative one of the film’s major strengths, accrediting the early success to its originality.

The film follows Rudd as Scott Lang, a master thief recently released from prison, who is enlisted by Michael Douglas as Dr. Hank Pym to don a stature-shrinking suit and fight the evil Yellowjacket who possesses a similar power.

‘I say this was a success,’ said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for film industry monitor Rentrak. ‘This was never predestined to open with $80 (million) or $100 million. Marvel continues to evolve and surprise the audience. This was about a perfectly solid result for a brand new property.’

While promoting the film before this weekend’s opening, Rudd stopped by the couch of his old friend Conan O’Brien.

As one of the strangest and longest running gags in showbiz, the actor is notorious for making Conan (and the audience) believe that they are about to watch a clip from his latest film, when really they are duped into seeing a clip from a hilariously awful 1980s film, Mac And Me.

And even though Rudd claims this time is different – with Marvel being a large corporation and taking their promotional tours seriously – he continues the running joke by blending his film and a clip from the so-bad-it’s-good sci-fi film.

Franchise future: Despite positive reviews and a strong opening weekend, it remains unclear whether or not there will be an Ant-Man 2. However, fans can expect to see Rudd making a cameo appearance as the tiny hero in Captain America: Civil War