Phase five of the Marvel Cinematic Universe may have gotten off to a rocky start, but Ant-Man is bigger than ever at the box office."Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" opened with $104 million in domestic ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday, easily surpassing the box-office debuts of the previous two Ant-Man films. The Walt Disney Co.'s "Quantumania" added another $121.3 million overseas to give the pint-sized hero a $225 million global launch.It's easily the largest opening of the year so far. And "Quantumania" did so despite an atypically poor reception for the 31st MCU film. "Quantumania," starring Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Evangeline Lilly as the Wasp and Jonathan Majors as Kang the Conqueror, sits at 48% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the only MCU film to rank as rotten beside "Eternals" (47%).Audiences also weren't thrilled with "Quantumania," giving it a "B" CinemaScore. "Eternals" is the only other MCU film to receive a CinemaScore that low.Those scores will pose the biggest concern for Marvel as it continues to unroll phase five of the MCU, following mixed reviews for the post-"Avengers: Endgame" phase four of the comic-book franchise. Up next is "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" in May.But good reviews or not, theaters hope "Quantumania" — the first blockbuster of the year — is a sign of things to come. After the turmoil of the past three years, there are some 30 more wide releases planned for 2023."It will feel almost in the coming weeks like a pre-pandemic moviegoing environment in terms of the marketplace," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore. "That's very good news coming off a very tumultuous past two, three years. This is the start of a big many months for this industry. We've sort of been in the waiting room with holdovers like 'Avatar' and others."The first "Ant-Man" launched with $57.2 million domestically in 2015, the smallest opening for any movie in the MCU. It ultimately earned $519.3 million worldwide. Its sequel, "Ant-Man and the Wasp," debuted three years later with $75.8 million and went to collect $622.7 million globally.China was vital for both of those releases, with each topping $100 million there. But in recent years, particularly during the pandemic, fewer American movies have secured major releases in the heavily regulated Chinese market. Not since "Avengers: Endgame" in 2019 has a Disney release opened simultaneously in the U.S. and China.Whether China will ever go back to those pre-pandemic numbers for U.S. movies, however, remains to be seen — especially as tensions continue to fester over the Chinese balloon surveillance program. "Quantumania" took in $19 million over the weekend in China.In its 10th weekend of release, James Cameron's "Avatar: The Way of Water" remained in second place with $6.4 million. With $2.243 billion globally, Cameron's sci-fi sequel has now just surpassed Cameron's own "Titanic" — currently back in theaters for its 25th anniversary — as the third-highest grossing film ever. Now, only the 2009 "Avatar" and "Avengers: Endgame" rank above "The Way of Water."Last week's top film, "Magic Mike's Last Dance" slid to third place with $5.5 million. The Channing Tatum sequel has collected $18.1 million in two weeks.Landing in fourth was Universal's "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," which has enjoyed an unusually long run in theaters as the top family option since late December. With $5.3 million over the weekend, it has totaled $167 million domestically and more than $400 million worldwide.Only one new film went into wide release against "Quantumania." Open Road and Briarcliff Entertainment debuted "Marlowe," with Liam Neeson playing Raymond Chandler's classic private eye, in 2,281 locations. "Marlowe," though, only mustered $1.9 million.Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.1. "Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania," $104 million.2. "Avatar: The Way of Water," $6.1 million.3. "Magic Mike's Last Dance," $5.5 million.4. "Puss in Boots: The Last Wish," $5.3 million.5. "Knock at the Cabin," $3.9 million.6. "80 for Brady," $3.6 million.7. "Titanic," $2.3 million.8. "Marlowe," $1.9 million.9. "Missing," $1.7 million.10. "A Man Called Otto," $1.6 million.

Edward O. Wilson, the pioneering Harvard biologist who argued for a new vision of human nature in "Sociobiology" and warned against the decline of ecosystems, has died. He was 92.Wilson died on Dec. 26 in Burlington, Massachusetts, according to an announcement posted Monday on the E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation's website. "It would be hard to understate Ed's scientific achievements, but his impact extends to every facet of society. He was a true visionary with a unique ability to inspire and galvanize. He articulated, perhaps better than anyone, what it means to be human," David J. Prend, chairman of the board of E.O. Wilson Biodiversity Foundation, said in a statement.The professor and two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author first gained widespread attention for his 1975 book, "Sociobiology: The New Synthesis," in which he spelled out the evidence suggesting a link between human behavior and genetics. The work created a storm of controversy among activists and fellow academics who equated sociobiology's groundbreaking theories with sexism, racism and Nazism.More recently, Wilson has championed the importance of preserving diverse species and ecosystems."The diversity of life on Earth is far greater than even most biologists recognize," he said in 1993. Less than 10% of the Earth's species have scientific names, he said, making it "a still mostly unexplored planet."In 1979, "On Human Nature" — the third volume in a series including "The Insect Societies" and "Sociobiology" — earned Wilson his first Pulitzer Prize. His second Pulitzer came in 1991 with "The Ants," which Wilson co-wrote with Harvard colleague Bert Holldobler.Among his other honors was the 1990 Crafoord Prize in biosciences from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the highest scientific award in the field. Time magazine named him one of America's 25 most influential people in 1996.Wilson's sociobiology theories transformed the field of biology and reignited the nature vs. nurture debate among scientists. Based on data about many species, Wilson argued that social behaviors from warfare to altruism had a genetic basis, an idea that contradicted the prevailing view that cultural and environmental factors determined human behavior.Critics argued that such a theory bolstered social injustice, including discrimination against women, by saying that the inequality is written in human genes. Fifteen Boston-area scholars joined in a letter denouncing it, and in one case protesters dumped a pitcher of ice water on Wilson's head while he was speaking at a scientific meeting in 1978.He didn't think genes determine all human behavior, but "in roughterms ... maybe 10 percent" of it.