It’s James Gunn Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 It topped the weekend box office with $114 million, just behind the last film in the stand-alone Marvel Studios franchise.
The news was even better overseas, where the superhero film opened with a better-than-expected $168.1 million for a global debut of $282.1 million. It took the No. 1 spot in China with a $28 million debut Guardians (Most Hollywood movies are doing nominal business in China).
Any domestic startup worth more than $100 million in the post-pandemic era is nothing to rule out. Still, GuardiansThe early performance in North America was mixed news for Marvel and Gunn — which now runs rival DC Studios — and further fueled concerns that superhero fatigue has settled in at the box office as the 2023 summer season begins. A year ago, for example, the Marvel trilogy Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness Its domestic release rose to a series-best $187 million.
Guardians 3 There is certainly no shortage of audience love; It got strong exit scores on CinemaScore and PostTrak, and it’s already paying off. On Saturday morning, Marvel and Disney thought the movie wouldn’t gross more than $110 million over the weekend, but traffic was better than expected throughout Saturday and Friday saw a bump. If that trend continues, the trio could enjoy a long run.
Critics feel differently than consumers, and the film received the lowest score of the three films from Rotten Tomatoes critics.
In 2017, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 The first opened at $146.2 million Guardians It opened to $94.2 million domestically in 2014, not adjusted for inflation.
It’s unusual, but not unheard of, for a title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe to open behind a previous installment in its respective series. Includes more unlocked sequels Black Panther: Wakanda ForeverIt was released as the Covid-19 pandemic, and Avengers: Age of Ultron.
Guardians 3 It opened alongside the latest Marvel film Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantum Mania, posted a series-best domestic opening of $106 million and $120 million over the four-day Presidents Day weekend. However, the film was ultimately considered a disappointment after debuting under $500 million, a franchise short.
The Guardians The trilogy continues a long tradition of Marvel movies kicking off the summer at the box office.
Over the weekend, the most recent observation was shown Guardians 3 It opened in the $110 million to $120 million range domestically. Early tracking showed it opening at $130 million, so the fall is no doubt about Marvel and Disney.
Guardians 3 Gunn reunites with Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Karen Gillan, Bom Klementieff, Sean Gunn, Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel. Newcomers include Chugwoodi Yuji as the villainous High Evolutionary and Will Poulter as the classic Marvel character Adam Warlock.
After winning four weekends, Universal and Illumination became a billion-dollar blockbuster Super Mario Bros. Movie — voiced by Brad — finally slipped to No. 2 with $18.6 million, for a domestic total of $518.2 million and north of $1.16 billion worldwide.
Elsewhere, Screen Gems and Sony’s romantic comedy Love again Dare to open in front Guardians 3 Because of going after a different audience (women). The film appeared as DOA and grossed $2.4 million, good enough for fifth place.
Written and directed by Jim Strouse. Love again Starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sam Heughan and Celine Dion (who contributed many new songs to Girls Bend).
A lot more to come.
The original version of this story was published May 6 at 8:13 a.m. PT.
