It was never going to achieve an Avengers-style opening, but there are undoubtedly a few bigwigs out there who expected more from Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, which has opened to an estimated $58million in the US.

Paul Rudd as Ant-ManPaul Rudd ready to kick butt as Ant-Man

Marking Marvel's 12th consecutive first-place opening, Variety reports the superhero film opened comfortably in the top spot, ahead of Minions ($50.2m) in its second week. 

More: Our review of Ant-Man

Amy Schumer's well-received comedy Trainwreck debuted to $30.2m in third place. This was significantly higher than three other Judd Apatow-directed films - This Is 40, Funny People and The 40-Year-Old Virgin - behind only Knocked Up's $30.7m debut. And when the final numbers are in, Trainwreck may well turn out to be Apatow's biggest.

Some analysts expected Ant-Man to top $60m based on Friday takings, but its opening is, at least, in the region of The Incredible Hulk, which earned an initial $55m on its way to a $134million US haul.

More: Paul Rudd marvels over Ant-Man role

Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis praised the result, saying, "No one else could take what is really an obscure character and launch it in such a big way. 

"It's a sign that they're doing so much right and that it's a brand that has overwhelming momentum."

Fourth place went to Pixar's Inside Out, with an $11.6m total sending the animation over the $300m mark domestically, where it joins Toy Story 3 and Finding Nemo. 

Jurassic World added $11.4m to take fifth place, but more importantly, it's now one of only four films to pass $600m in North America. Avatar, Titanic and The Avengers are the other three.

Watch the trailer for Ant-Man here: